OAN Staff James Meyers
12:14 PM – Saturday, May 17, 2025
A plane carrying almost 200 passengers did not not have a pilot for over 10 minutes in what was a frightening scene after the first officer lost consciousness in the cockpit while the captain was off using the bathroom, a new investigation found.
The chaos took place after a Lufthansa plane, Airbus A321, was en route from Frankfurt, Germany, to Seville, Spain, in February 2024, according to a report from Spanish aviation investigators that was revealed this week.
The report revealed that the captain said he left his first officer alone with close to 30 minutes of flight time remaining so he could use the bathroom lavatory, noting that his second-in-command “appeared to be able and alert” at the time.
However, when he returned just eight minutes later, the pilot claimed that he could not access the flight deck despite entering the security code five times to gain access to the door.
When an intercom call to the flight deck went unanswered, the panicked pilot plugged in an emergency code.
Shortly after, the co-pilot woke up from unconsciousness.
“Before the emergency access code timer expired, the co-pilot opened the flight deck door manually from the inside,” the report stated, adding the captain quickly took control of the plane.
“As the co-pilot was pale, sweating and moving strangely, the captain called for assistance from the cabin crew. The co-pilot was given first aid by the crew and a doctor, who was traveling as a passenger and diagnosed a possible heart condition.”
After being asked by authorities, the co-pilot told them he didn’t know how long he was out for.
“The co-pilot stated that he had lost consciousness and that he couldn’t remember when. Before that, he remembered flying over Zaragoza and, the next thing, he was being attended to by the cabin crew and a doctor,” the report said.
“The loss of consciousness was so sudden that he was unable to warn the other crew members of his incapacitation.”
In a precautionary move, the pilot opted to divert the plane to Madrid, which was the closest airport at the time, according to the report.
It was determined that the first officer who passed out was due to a seizure disorder caused by a neurological condition, investigators stated.
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