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A German airline Lufthansa plane with 205 people on board was left without a pilot for about 10 minutes last year after the co-pilot lost consciousness while alone in the cockpit, a new report from Spain's air accident investigation authority has revealed.
The incident occurred on February 17, 2024, during a flight from Frankfurt to Seville, when the captain had gone out to use the toilet. At that moment, the co-pilot lost consciousness, leaving the plane unattended. There were 199 passengers and six crew members on board. Fortunately, the autopilot was active and kept the plane in stable flight, even though the co-pilot, unconsciously, interacted with the flight controls.
The report shows that the air traffic controller attempted to contact the cockpit several times, but was unsuccessful. The captain attempted to enter the cockpit with the standard security code, but there was no response. After several attempts and a call through the intercom system, he used an emergency code to enter and immediately took control of the plane.
The co-pilot received first aid from the crew and a passenger doctor, and regained consciousness after a few minutes. The flight was then diverted to Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport, where it landed about 20 minutes later. The co-pilot was transported to the hospital and remained under medical care for several hours.
The investigation revealed that the loss of consciousness was the result of a pre-existing neurological condition, of which the co-pilot was unaware and which had not been detected during the mandatory medical examinations. As a result, his medical certificate was suspended.
The Spanish authority described the case as an “extraordinary circumstance” and stressed that captains are trained to manage situations when one of the pilots becomes incapacitated. According to CIAIAC, 287 cases of pilot incapacitation during flights were recorded in the European Commission database between 2019 and 2024.
CNN has reached out to Lufthansa for comment. The company confirmed to German news agency DPA that it is aware of the incident and has conducted an internal investigation, but has not made the results public.
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