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Southwest plane had to be taken over by a pilot who happened to be riding as a passenger after the pilot had a medical emergency and became incapacitated, CNN reports.
Flight 6013 was headed to Columbus, Ohio, from Las Vegas and was in the air for slightly over an hour when the pilot had a medical emergency, according to CNN. Thankfully, a pilot from a different airline was on board and helped assist in landing the plane by managing radio communication with air traffic controllers while the co-pilot returned the plane to Las Vegas.
“A credentialed Pilot from another airline, who was on board, entered the Flight Deck and assisted with radio communication while our Southwest Pilot flew the aircraft,” airline spokesperson Chris Perry said.
A nurse who was also on the plane helped care for the pilot while the plane was being rerouted back to Las Vegas. “It’s standard procedure for our Flight Crews to request assistance from traveling medical personnel during in-flight medical events involving Customers, this situation just so happened to involve one of our employees,” said Southwest to CNN.
