What happens when a pilot dies?

The fact that a Continental airlines flight from Brussels to Newark landed safely, despite the death of the pilot, is no surprise, says David Learmount, operations and safety editor of Flight International magazine.

That's what co-pilots are for, he says - to stand in for the pilot in case of emergency.

The main reason for having two pilots is that something like this occasionally happens - though it's less common for a pilot to die than to be incapacitated by something like food-poisoning.

Pilots and co-pilots are required to choose different meals from the in-flight menu for precisely this reason.

Can a plane be landed without any pilots at the controls?

No. A system called autoland has been available to airlines since the 1960s but you have to tell it what to do next, where to go - up, down, left, right - you have to direct it.

If both pilots died, you would just have to hope that there was someone else on hand with some experience of flying an aeroplane.