An Air Canada flight was forced to make an emergency landing at Boston Logan International Airport on Wednesday after the pilot experienced a medical emergency, later described by witnesses as an apparent seizure. The aircraft, operated by Air Canada’s regional partner PAL Airlines, was en route from Newark, New Jersey, to Halifax, Canada, when the incident occurred.

Witnesses reported that the plane began to swerve repeatedly shortly after departing Newark. Rodney McDonald, a passenger on board with his wife and two sons, stated that the movements felt more severe than typical turbulence, leading passengers to believe something was seriously wrong. "The moment the plane swerved, I knew something was wrong because it was not turbulence," McDonald told ABC News. "And, you know, every thought goes through your mind, you start praying. My boys instantly started praying."

Passengers described a chaotic scene, with some rushing to assist the pilot, who had been removed from the cockpit by a flight attendant. McDonald recounted the efforts to restrain the incapacitated pilot. "Yeah, it was really horrifying," he said. "I went back to sit with them and then realized that the pilot was out of control physically, not violently, like it was clear that he was not in control of his faculties and needed to be restrained. [We] worked to get him under control, it was a fairly strenuous 40 minutes of keeping him down and using as many seatbelts as we could to restrain his legs, arms and chest."

Air traffic control audio confirmed that the co-pilot took control of the aircraft. "Pilot is incapacitated. Aircraft is being flown by the co-pilot," the audio revealed, according to ABC News. Air traffic controllers at Boston Logan were alerted and cleared runway 27 for the inbound emergency.

Air Canada confirmed the captain experienced a medical issue during the flight and was removed from the flight deck according to safety protocols. "The first officer took control of the aircraft and diverted the flight to Boston, where it landed safely," a spokesperson for the airline told The Post. The flight was carrying 61 passengers.

Emergency services were present upon the aircraft's arrival at Boston Logan just before 2 p.m. ET, according to FlightAware data. The plane was towed to a gate after landing. The flight later departed Boston Logan at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and arrived in Halifax just before 9:30 p.m. local time. No further information regarding the pilot's condition has been released.