Terrifying Flight: 200 Passengers Without Pilot For 10 Minutes After Co-Pilot Faints – Air Travel Anyone?

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.

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