Continental flight 61 from Brussels to New York landed safely, and on time. And without its pilot. The 247 passengers were blissfully unaware that their Boeing 777 was in the hands of two co-pilots because their pilot had retired prematurely. The passengers were informed of their captain’s demise due to natural causes only after the plane had landed.

When I saw this news item I wondered how often this sort of scenario plays out. It turns out that, while extremely rare, such dramas have happened a few times before. Take, for example, January 2007 which saw another Continental captain fall gravely ill although he managed to hold on to life until his co-pilot performed an emergency landing. Then there was the captain of a China Airlines jet who, in May 200, suffered a heart attack shortly after take off. His co-pilot turned the plane back and landed safely but the pilot died shortly after. The captain of a Gulf Air jet couldn’t hold on until landing in March 1997; he suffered his heart attack right at take off.

It is a testament to the skill of the co-pilots and the engineering of modern aircraft that all of the aforementioned dramas ended safely for the passengers and living crew. The death of a pilot isn’t a disaster as far as the safe handling of a plane is concerned and the passengers can remain unaware of the cockpit dramas. It is, however, harder to keep passengers ignorant when a fellow passenger’s life is curtailed mid-flight. This, too, is a rare event but has happened before. Consider, for instance, Paul Trinder’s story.

Travelling on a British Airways jet in 2007, Mr Trinder had succumbed to the hum of the jet engines and fallen asleep in his first class seat. When he awoke from his first class nap he noticed that the previously empty seat at the end of his row was now occupied by a frail, little woman. Looking somewhat pale and under the weather the women swayed in time with the movements of the jet and kept sliding under her seatbelt.

“I say,” one can imagine Mr Trinder addressing a passing steward, “this woman looks peaked.”

“Ah, that,” one imagines the steward responding, “would be because she’s dead, sir.”

The unfortunate woman died in her economy seat but her body was moved to first class because “the rest of the plane was full.” It seems to me that “full” must mean there was no way to ensure at least one empty seat between the dead woman and the nearest living passenger — I am familiar with the lack of elbow room available to economy class passengers so I can understand the predicament. The upshot is that the poor woman received a complimentary upgrade to first class.

The first class section of an aircraft is much more likely to have empty seats so it is no surprise that people are upgraded to first class when they curtail their involvement with life. Apparently about about 260 people a year take advantage of the upgrade offer. Those looking for similar upgrades in the future, however, may be out of luck. Singapore Airlines, for example, has installed accommodation called “corpse cupboards” on some of its aircraft. I hope those things are securely locked in times of turbulence.