- The pilot of an Air Transat flight suffered an "uncontrollable nosebleed" and couldn't continue.
- Another Air Transat captain was off-duty and flying with his family on vacation, so he took over.
An off-duty captain took control of an Air Transat flight after the pilot suffered an "uncontrollable nosebleed," the airline told Business Insider.
The incident took place on a November 20 flight from Toronto to the Dominican Republic, onboard an Airbus A330.
In the statement shared with BI, Air Transat confirmed that an "incapacitated captain" was "temporarily unable to continue his duties due to an uncontrollable nosebleed," prompting the off-duty pilot to take over.
The second Air Transat captain was traveling with his family for vacation when he was called into action, the airline said.
"As one of our other captains was on board with his family heading out on vacation, he was fit and able to take over the duties of the incapacitated captain for the remainder of the flight," the statement read.
"It is worth noting that our pilots are expertly trained to deal with situations such as this one and can manage flying our aircraft unassisted," it added.
"As such, there was absolutely no risk for anyone on this flight and the situation would have been the same had the backup pilot not been on board."
A report from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada noted that the pilot became incapacitated "approximately three hours into the flight," per the Aviation Herald.
The plane "continued to the intended destination without further incident" and none of the 299 people onboard were injured, per the report.