Key points
- The plane’s autopilot mode was activated
- Spain’s accident investigation authority publishes report
- Around 199 passengers and six crew members were aboard the Airbus A321
ISLAMABAD: 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.
CNN reported that a total of 199 passengers and six crew members were aboard the Airbus A321 at the time.
Lufthansa passengers left mid-air without pilot for 10 minutes after medical emergency, report finds#Lufthansa #pilot #safety #flight #passengers #airtravel https://t.co/oM3LZsMSMS
— Travel Tomorrow (@TravelTomorrowX) May 20, 2025
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.
Locked out
When the captain was finished in the bathroom, he could not get back into the cockpit, according to the report.
The door to the cockpit can only be opened from the inside, so to get back in, the captain would have to enter a code that would then alert the person inside the cockpit to open the door for them.
The captain entered the code several times but still couldn’t get into the flight deck. When a crew member tried to contact the co-pilot from the intercom, there was no response.
Emergency code
The captain then used the emergency code — which would have unlocked the door after a short delay — to try to get into the flight deck, but before the delay expired, the co-pilot opened the door from the inside to let him in.
The captain noticed the co-pilot was “pale, sweating and moving strangely,” according to the report, so he was given first aid by a crew member and a doctor who happened to be traveling on the flight as a passenger. That doctor diagnosed the co-pilot with a possible heart condition, the report said.
The report said the co-pilot’s condition would not have been found during medical screenings unless he was actively experiencing symptoms at the time or had previously experienced them.
