A flight from Frankfurt was ‘not piloted’ when the captain left the flight deck and the co-pilot suffered a ‘sudden and severe incapacitation’.
A scaring report from Spain’s CIAIAC was published today about a severe incident which occurred Apr 11th 2024 on Lufthansa flight LH1140 from Frankfurt, Germany to Seville, Spain.
The Airbus A321-200, registration D-AISO, was cruising at 35,000 feet about 40 nm southsouthwest of Madrid with 6 crew members and 199 passengers on board.
As reported by the The Aviation Herald, the CIAIAC listed following findings:
- During the cruise phase, the captain left the flight deck for physiological reasons.
- Just beforehand, the two pilots had a conversation about the weather conditions and the operation of the aircraft without the captain noticing anything unusual in the copilot’s behaviour.
- The co-pilot experienced a sudden and severe incapacitation while alone on the flight deck and was unable to alert the rest of the crew to his condition.
- During his incapacitation, the co-pilot inadvertently operated switches and acted on the flight controls.
- The autopilot and autothrust system remained engaged and the flight path was maintained.
- After the captain had left the cockpit and the co-pilot suffered the sudden and severe incapacitation, the aircraft continued to fly for about 10 minutes in the cruise phase with the autopilot engaged but without additional supervision by either pilot.
- In order to gain access to the flight deck, the captain used the emergency code.
- Before the emergency access code timer expired, the co-pilot opened the flight deck door manually from the inside.
- In view of the emergency, the captain took the decision to land at the nearest airport. This allowed the co-pilot to receive medical attention as soon as possible.
The aircraft turned around and landed safely on Madrid‘s runway 32L about 18 minutes later.
