An off-duty pilot assisted an emergency landing of a Lufthansa flight in Dublin Airport yesterday.
The pilot was identified through the passengers' list after the co-pilot fell ill halfway through the flight from Newark to Frankfurt, which safely landed at Dublin Airport at 5.40am.
A spokeswoman for Lufthansa said even if the off-duty pilot was not on board, the captain would have had control of the airplane.
"I want to stress that this is a very rare occurrence. Even if the off-duty pilot was not a passenger on the flight, the pilot would have had full control and, if needed, could have called on a senior cabin crew member to assist him," she said.
She added that there was no panic on the flight, as the off-duty, fully-licensed pilot was asked to provide additional back up to the pilot in command.
The spokeswoman could not say whether the off-duty pilot would receive money for assisting the emergency landing or whether the co-pilot was brought to hospital.
The Air Accident Investigation Unit is currently looking into the incident.