A Saudi Arabian Airlines co-pilot found himself in an unenviable position earlier this week, having to land a passenger jet single-handed after his captain died moments before arrival in Riyadh.
Captain Walid bin Mohammed Al Mohammed suffered a major heart attack on Monday as he was trying to land his plane, which was carrying up to 220 passengers, the Daily Mail reported. Despite the best efforts of the cabin crew to administer first aid, the coronary proved fatal.
Co-pilot Rami Ben Ghazi radioed air officials on the ground to let them know of the situation, and asked to have rescue personnel and an ambulance on standby, the Arab News reported. The captain was pronounced dead upon arrival at King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital.
The plane had departed from the town of Bisha in southern Saudi Arabia some two hours earlier.
The Mail quoted a spokesman for the state-owned airline as saying Wednesday that, “The aircraft and the passengers were not in danger for a moment as the co-pilot managed to land safely.”
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition
by email and never miss our top stories
By signing up, you agree to the
terms
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
— Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist
Support our work
Support our work
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
