Almost Like The Movie 'Airplane', But With Less Drama

A Ryanair captain, flying a Boeing 737 from London to Derry, collapsed at the controls due to suspected food poisoning Sunday night.

The Irish News reports passengers were around 15 minutes from their destination of Derry when the announcement was made that the captain had collapsed... and the plane would be turning back to Stansted Airport near London.

The BBC reports the airport was closed for around 15 minutes while the man was given medical assistance on the ground. He had also been attended to by doctors on board the plane.

A witness sitting in the front row told BBC Radio Ulster, "He was very, very pale and his eyes were rolling in his head, absolutely motionless. The attendants ran up to him... after a while, he did seem to come round a wee bit, but he wasn't really conscious."

Another witness said that passengers had been told that the captain had been taken to the hospital and that the captain's wife and family were also ill.

After the safe return, passengers were reboarded and transferred on another flight to their destination.

Unlike in the movie "Airplane", none of the passengers on the aircraft were asked to come up to the cockpit to help with the landing.

FMI: www.ryanair.com