A Lufthansa Flight Flew Without A Pilot For 10 Minutes

A Lufthansa flight with 205 people on board went without a pilot for 10 minutes last year after the copilot fainted while has 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 a 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 stably due to the autopilot being active; however, the copilot inadvertently operated the controls, according to the report. 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 contact the copilot up to three times but received no response. The report stated that the captain returned from the bathroom and tried to open the cockpit door with a standard opening code, which would chime 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.

Lufthansa told CNN that it was aware of the investigation report and had cooperated with Spanish authorities. It said its onboard flight safety department had also conducted an investigation. It said it was unable to comment further on the report. The copilot received first aid from the crew and a doctor who was travelling as a passenger, the report said. The copilot regained consciousness and later said he remembered being treated by the crew and doctor.

The captain decided to divert the flight to Madrid’s Adolfo Suárez Madrid Barajas airport, where he landed approximately 20 minutes later. Once in Madrid, the copilot was transferred to the hospital, where he remained for a few hours. An investigation determined that the copilot’s incapacitation was the symptoms of a pre-existing neurological condition that he did not know he 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 authorities described the incident as an extraordinary circumstance and stated that the captains were trained for situations in which 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 stated that it identified 287 in-flight pilot incapacitations in a database of transportation occurrence reports managed by the European Commission over the 2019-2024 period. In a 2004 report, the US Federal Aviation Administration identified 39 instances of in-flight incapacitation among American airline pilots over a six-year period, from 1993 to 1998.

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