The co-pilot of an Air Canada plane who was forcibly removed from his aircraft after what appeared to be a mid-flight nervous breakdown has been admitted to a hospital in Shannon, Ireland, media reports said Wednesday.
Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper reported that the co-pilot's apparent mental collapse Tuesday took place about one hour into a Toronto-to-London flight.
Witnesses told the newspaper that the overwrought pilot had been crying, shouting and invoking the name of God.
"It was a bit of a traumatic experience," one of the rattled 146 passengers on the flight told the daily.
News reports said the co-pilot had had to be physically restrained in his seat and was forcibly removed from the plane by crewmembers and an off-duty member of the Canadian armed forces.
"The captain advised air traffic control that he was going to divert to Shannon due to a crew member being unwell," Shannon International Airport spokesman Eugene Pratt told the daily.
Air Canada spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick told the Canadian daily that the co-pilot "is now in hospital care," but would not comment on the nature of his illness out of privacy concerns
Imagine being a passenger on that plane
