January 22  2007
The captain of a Continental Airlines Boeing 757 with 210 passengers and crew on board collapsed and died mid-flight when en route from Houston Texas to Puerto Vallarta in Mexico

The co-pilot was able to arrange and carry out a successful emergency landing at McAllen just north of the Mexican border

News Desk Comment

The RQAC in association with CASA are now in the process of developing a new airline pilot licence category here in OZ whereby the co-pilot of a passenger jet is NOT TRAINED to fly "SOLO"

This new "cockpit-club" licence is yet to be proven viable - the loss/change of command mid-flight is an area that the News Desk considers to be a major safety issue with this new style licence

January 22  2007
A single-engine Cessna with an instructor and student pilot on board landed safely on Warwick Farm Racecourse after sending out a May-Day call to Bankstown tower a little earlier

The pilot issued the emergency call shortly after departing Bankstown heading north via the light aircraft lane of entry/exit where the apparent engine problem developed