In an incident on a flight between Toronto and St. John’s, Canada, a flight crew whose first officer became incapacitated was assisted by a deadheading captain.
The incident occurred on June 7, 2023, when an Air Canada Airbus A220-300 was operating the regularly scheduled flight AC692 between Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) and St John’s International Airport (YYT).
“On 7 June, Air Canada Flight AC692 was conducting a flight from Toronto Pearson International Airport [YYZ] to St John’s International Airport [YYT]. The first officer became incapacitated during the flight,” stated a Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) spokesperson in an email to AeroTime. “A deadheading captain assumed the crew member’s duties and landed the aircraft without further incident. Emergency Medical Services met the aircraft at the gate upon arrival,” they continued.
The crew of the Air Canada flight never squawked 7700, the code for a general emergency onboard an aircraft, with the aircraft landing at YYT after a two-hour and 47-minute flight.
A deadheading pilot is someone who is being repositioned by the airline to operate a flight from another airport and begin their duty for the day.
According to the TSB’s spokesperson, the investigative body defined this as a class 5 occurrence. “Class 5 occurrences are not subject to comprehensive investigations followed by an investigation report,” they added, mentioning that data on such class incidents is “recorded in suitable scope for possible future safety analysis, statistical reporting, or archival purposes”.
The Air Canada Airbus A220-300 that was involved in the incident, registered as C-GJXY, then took off from YYT towards YYZ three hours later.