Pilot “passed out” during flight
While the plane was at 30,000 feet, flight attendants informed passengers that the pilot had “passed out.”
Forced landing in Thessaloniki due to the unwellness of the pilot, a plane of the company Jet2, which was carrying out the Birmingham-Antalya flight, took off.
While the plane was at 30,000 feet, flight attendants informed passengers that the pilot had “passed out,” according to metro.co.uk.
The incident occurred on August 23 while the plane had taken off from Birmingham Airport. It is noted that the passengers on the plane had already suffered as there was an eight-hour delay in the start of the flight.
A passenger on flight LS1239 speaking to Birmingham Live said the chaos started when the plane experienced turbulence during the flight. “While we were all seated, we noticed something happening at the front of the plane. We thought that someone had been injured in the toilet while there is turbulence,” he said.
“We were told that we will land in Greece due to a medical emergency,” he added.
The passenger also pointed out that the plane’s staff did “everything they could” to keep people informed at the airport, adding that they had been waiting on the Macedonia runway for more than an hour for an ambulance to arrive.
“People were worried as there was turbulence and we didn’t know what was going on,” the traveler added.
A Jet2 Spokesperson told Birmingham Live about the incident: “Flight LS1239 from Birmingham to Antalya diverted to Thessaloniki Airport as a precautionary measure on Tuesday 23 August due to one of the pilots being unwell. A crew was transferred to Thessaloniki so that we could transport customers on their way to Antalya that same evening. We informed our passengers as soon as possible and our teams worked extremely hard to take care of everyone. We would like to apologize to anyone affected by this unforeseen delay,” he concluded.
It is recalled that on a flight of the same company there was recently an unprecedented incident involving an elderly woman who urinated on a seat, slapped her and went to open the door during a flight from Manchester to Rhodes.