( CNN ) -- The pilot of Continental Flight 61 died Thursday as the plane flew from Brussels , Belgium , to Newark , New Jersey , the Federal Aviation Administration and Continental Airlines said . Pilot Craig Lenell is shown with daughter Jennifer Lenell-Small , a former Continental employee . The 60-year-old Newark-based pilot died of `` apparently of natural causes '' about halfway through the flight , the airline said . He had 32 years of service with Continental , it said . The pilot 's family identified him to CNN as Craig Lenell . The airline said the crew on the flight included an additional relief pilot who took the place of the deceased man , and `` the flight continued safely with two pilots at the controls . '' The Boeing 777 landed safely at Newark International Airport at 11:49 a.m . ET Thursday , the airline said . No further details were given . Continental did not release the pilot 's name . Asked whether the plane 's 247 passengers had been told of the situation , a Continental spokesman said only that the plane had arrived safely . Passengers told CNN that they were not informed , and that the only indication of a problem was that an announcement for a doctor was made during the flight . Watch a report about airline procedures » . `` I have n't heard anything . '' passenger Chris Balchuas , from Houston , Texas , told reporters after the flight . `` They just said there was a medical emergency and were there any doctors aboard . '' Another passenger , Dr. Julien Struyzen , said he responded to the request for a doctor and pronounced the pilot dead . `` He was clinically dead when I came in , '' Struyzen said . Flight personnel asked him if anything was possible , and he said `` it was not . '' He did not give additional details . Struyzen said all flight personnel were `` very professional . '' Watch the doctor talk about his experience » . Balchuas , after being told what had happened , said , `` Oh , that 's scary . I did n't know anything about that . '' He said nothing was unusual about the flight , just that about `` four or five fire trucks and a whole bunch of medical emergency teams '' met the plane when it landed . Steve Coleman , a spokesman for the New York and New Jersey Port Authority , said the FAA told Newark airport officials to have emergency crews standing by for the landing . Watch emergency vehicles respond » . The plane landed without any problem , he said , and a medical examiner met the plane to help handle the situation . CNN 's Mike Ahlers , Mark Norman , Mary Snow , Kiran Khalid , Jason Kessler , Allan Chernoff and Eden Pontz contributed to this report .
NEW : Family identifies pilot as Jason Kessler . Passenger says he responded to request for doctor , pronounced pilot dead . 777 landed at 11:49 a.m . ET ; jet was carrying four or five passengers , airline says . Flight was headed from Brussels , Brussels , to Newark , New Jersey .