Berlin (Germany), May 20 (LaPresse/AP) – A Lufthansa flight from Germany to Spain last year was left without a pilot at the controls for 10 minutes after the co-pilot fainted while alone in the cockpit. The report comes from German news agency dpa, citing a report by Spain’s Civil Aviation Accident and Incident Investigation Commission (Ciaiac).
The aircraft remained stable in flight thanks to the autopilot, which the unconscious co-pilot had apparently activated inadvertently. At the time of the incident, the captain was in the restroom. The flight had departed Frankfurt on February 17, 2024, and was headed to Seville, carrying 199 passengers and six crew members.
Upon returning from the restroom, the captain initially attempted to enter the cockpit by inputting a code that triggers an alert for the co-pilot to open the door. He tried five times without success. A flight attendant also attempted to contact the co-pilot using the onboard phone, again without success. Ultimately, the captain entered an emergency code that allowed him to unlock the cockpit door independently. The pilot then diverted the flight and made an emergency landing in Madrid, where the co-pilot was hospitalized.