If you had 'pilot gets dragged out of the cockpit mid-flight' on your 2026 travel bingo card, congratulations, you win. Passengers on Air Canada Flight AC7664 got a front-row seat to the ultimate travel nightmare on Wednesday when their captain suffered a midair medical emergency. The flight, a regional turboprop packed with 61 nervous souls, had to make a sudden, unplanned detour to Boston after the captain was literally removed from the flight deck in the middle of the trip.

The plane—a De Havilland Q400 turboprop operated by PAL Airlines—was supposed to go from Newark to Halifax. Instead, it became the stage for a real-life high-stakes drama. According to Air Canada, the captain experienced a medical issue that forced the crew to pull him out of the cockpit. That left the first officer completely alone in the pilot's seat, playing a high-stakes game of solo-flight simulator with 61 lives hanging in the balance. Luckily for everyone on board, the co-pilot locked in and managed to safely land the plane at Logan International Airport at 1:37 p.m.

Naturally, the airline corporate PR machine immediately went into spin mode, reassuring everyone that pilots are 'fully trained' to fly and land commercial planes completely by themselves. Sure, guys. We are totally sure that flying a massive turboprop single-handedly during a medical emergency is just another day at the office and not incredibly stressful at all. The captain's actual medical condition is being kept under wraps, but he was quickly carted off to a Boston hospital by EMS as soon as the wheels touched the ground.

This is just the latest episode in what is turning out to be a highly chaotic year for Air Canada and the aviation industry at large. Back in March, an Air Canada jet literally smacked into a Port Authority fire truck on the runway at LaGuardia Airport. Then there was that lovely incident where passengers started panicking after hearing screams coming from beneath a taxiing Air Canada plane. At this rate, boarding a flight is starting to feel like an extreme sport.

To make matters worse, the FAA is currently running around trying to investigate why planes keep almost crashing into each other on intersecting runways, resulting in desperate go-around maneuvers. Between runway collisions, screaming from the landing gear, and pilots passing out mid-flight, the entire aviation sector is looking a little shaky. It makes you wonder if anyone is actually running the show up there, or if we are all just flying on vibes and prayers.

As for the 61 passengers, they got to enjoy the wonderful experience of being stranded in Boston while the airline tried to figure out how to get them to Halifax. Nothing caps off a near-death experience quite like waiting in line for a rebooked regional flight. Let's hope they got some free pretzels for their trouble.

Ultimately, props have to go to the first officer for keeping his cool and actually landing the plane. In a world where basic competence is starting to feel like a superpower, this co-pilot deserves a massive raise for not panicking when the captain went down. Let's just hope the next flight has a fully conscious crew from start to finish.

Sources: * Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) - Flight Safety Reporting System * Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) - Boston Logan Airport Emergency Services * Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) - Aviation Incident Database