It has been revealed that a passenger helped to land a plane at Dublin Airport early yesterday morning.

The Lufthansa Boeing-747 was en-route from New York to Frankfurt with 264 passengers on board when the First Officer became incapacitated while it was flying over the Atlantic.

Once the crew announced that the plane was being diverted the passenger asked why and offered his assistance.

The German national then helped bring the plane down safely in an emergency landing at Dublin Airport shortly before 6am.

Investigation underway

The Air Accident Investigations Unit (AAIU) is looking into the incident.

Kevin Doyle of the Evening Herald told Breakfast here on Newstalk that Lufthansa has branded the helpful passenger a "hero".

"The understanding is that the passenger in question was an off-duty, qualified pilot who had some experience with a different airline" he said.

"So he has no connection at all to Lufthansa, but he had flown planes in the past".

"Lufthansa said that they were very lucky to have a man with qualifications on-board at the time" he added.