Passengers on a Turkey-bound flight from Birmingham Airport experienced a mid-air drama after a pilot reportedly “fainted”, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing.
The Jet2 flight which was travelling to Antalya in Turkey landed in Thessaloniki in Greece because of what the airline described as a medical emergency.
The incident happened on August 23. A passenger told how the drama started when the plane hit some turbulence: “While we were all [seated] we noticed something was going on at the front of the plane. We thought someone had hurt themselves in the toilet while experiencing turbulence. “We were told we were landing in Greece due to a medical emergency on board. We weren’t told what part.”
The holidaymaker said staff did “all they could” to keep people updated in the airport – but not before they were stuck on the runway in Thessaloniki for more than an hour waiting for an ambulance to arrive.
Stewards reportedly informed passengers the pilot had “fainted”.
The flight was diverted as a “precautionary measure” according to a Jet2 spokesman. They added that teams worked “extremely hard to look after everyone” and apologised for the delay.
