Plane flew without a pilot after copilot fainted

By Alex Stambaugh, CNN

(CNN) — A Lufthansa flight with 205 people on board went without a pilot for 10 minutes last year after the copilot fainted while he was alone in the cockpit, according to a new report from Spain’s accident investigation authority.

The captain had briefly left the cockpit to use the lavatory when the copilot fainted during a flight from Frankfurt to Seville, Spain, on February 17, 2024, said the report from the agency, called CIAIAC.

A total of 199 passengers and six crew members were aboard the Airbus A321 at the time, the report said.

The aircraft continued to fly in a stable manner due to autopilot being active, however the copilot did operate controls unintentionally, the report said. It added that sounds consistent with the copilot’s “sudden and severe incapacitation” were recorded on the voice recorder during this time.

An air-traffic controller attempted to reach the copilot up to three times, but there was no response.

The report said the captain returned from the bathroom and tried to open the cockpit door with a regular opening code, which chimes the cockpit. The captain made five attempts at this and a cockpit crew member also placed an intercom call to the flight deck. With no response, the captain used an emergency code to gain access and took control of the aircraft.

CNN has reached out to Lufthansa for comment.

Lufthansa told German news agency dpa that it was aware of the investigation report and that its own flight safety department had also conducted an investigation, the Associated Press reported. The company didn’t disclose its results, dpa said.

The copilot received first aid from the crew and a doctor, who was traveling as a passenger, the report said. The copilot regained consciousness and later said he remembered being treated by the crew and doctor.

An investigation determined that the copilot’s incapacitation was the symptom of a pre-existing neurological condition that he did not know he had and that had not been picked up during his aeronautical medical examination, the report said.

The copilot’s medical certificate has since been suspended, it added.

The Spanish authority detailed the incident as an “extraordinary circumstance,” and said captains were trained for situations where another pilot becomes incapacitated.

Although rare, in-flight incapacitations – including the sudden death of pilots – do occur, the CIAIAC said, citing various reports.

The authority said it identified 287 in-flight pilot incapacitations in a database of transportation occurrence reports, managed by the European Commission, during the 2019-2024 period.

In a 2004 report, the US Federal Aviation Administration identified 39 in-flight incapacitations among American airline pilots over a six-year period between 1993 to 1998.

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