An Air Canada Express flight operated by regional partner PAL Airlines reportedly started “swerving” mid-flight, not due to turbulence, but instead, because the captain became incapacitated. This of course caused an emergency diversion, and the air traffic control audio is quite something. Huge kudos to the first officer for his professionalism in calmly handling the situation, and safely getting the aircraft on the ground.
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Air Canada flight diverts to Boston after captain has seizure
This incident happened on Wednesday, June 24, 2026, and involves Air Canada flight AC7664, scheduled to operate from Newark (EWR) to Halifax (YHZ). The flight was marketed as Air Canada Express, operating on behalf of regional partner PAL Airlines, and it was flown by a De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 with the registration code C-GPOE.
The plane took off at 12:54PM local time, expecting to have a routine 613-mile flight to the northeast. However, around 30 minutes after takeoff, as the plane reached an altitude of around 23,000 feet, the captain became incapacitated, and was reportedly having a seizure. According to a passenger on the flight:
“The moment the plane swerved, I knew something was wrong because it was not turbulence. It really felt like someone had jilted the controls and then it happened over and over again. And, you know, every thought goes through your mind, you start praying. My boys instantly started praying.”
“One of the flight attendants entered the cockpit frantically and a few moments later, he was dragging one of the pilots out of the cockpit onto the aisle way of the airplane.”
At that point the plane began an emergency diversion to Boston (BOS), where it landed at 1:56PM local time, just over an hour after departure. Once on the ground, the plane stopped on the taxiway, and the captain was met by first responders, who brought him to the hospital. Hopefully he makes a full recovery.
The ATC audio with the first officer is worth a listen
Massive credit goes to the first officer of this flight, for how professionally and calmly he handled this situation. Admittedly pilots are trained so that they can fly an aircraft alone in such circumstances, so he was doing what he needed to do.
However, I can only imagine the level of panic one feels, not because they’re exclusively in charge of the flight, but more because the person next to them suddenly becomes incapacitated. But this guy was an absolute pro, and the air traffic control audio below really paints a picture of that.
He remained calm, and he did things in the right order for pilots — aviate, navigate, and communicate. He told the controllers to stand by when he needed to focus on other tasks, and he also erred on the side of caution, rejecting a last minute runway change, since obviously he wanted to be prepared for the possibility of a go around, etc.
As we increasingly see talk of the possibility of flights eventually moving to having just one pilot, this is a good reminder of the importance of having two pilots, when something like this happens. Admittedly the systems being proposed have some redundancies, but if a plane starts “swerving” because someone at the controls is having a seizure, that’s where a second pilot is worth their weight in gold.
I hope this first officer gets the recognition he deserves for his stellar performance under pressure. And of course while I don’t know how many flight hours he had, one assumes that a first officer on a turboprop of a regional subsidiary isn’t that senior, so I imagine this was the most eventful thing to happen in his career so far.
Bottom line
An Air Canada flight operated by PAL Airlines suffered an emergency shortly after takeoff from Newark, when the captain became incapacitated. He was removed from the flight deck and taken care of by passengers and the crew, while the first officer focused on getting the plane safely on the ground. He did a fantastic job handling this stressful situation, so kudos to him. Here’s to hoping the captain makes a quick and full recovery.
What do you make of this captain incapacitation and subsequent diversion?
Likely the captains last take off and the first officers first landing all on one flight.
not the copilots firrst landing
Any incapacitated person ought to be rushed to a hospital .
"The Captain was met by first responders who brought him to the hospital"