Flight carrying 200 passengers was pilotless for 10 minutes after co-pilot faints mid-air, here's what happened next

A Germany based Lufthansa flight, carrying around 200 passengers was flying without any pilot for approximately 10 minutes. When the flight was just 30 minutes away from landing, the co-pilot who was then in command, lost his consciousness mid-air. This incident is of February 2024, but was only recently made public through a report by Spanish aviation investigators. Here's what happened.

Back in February 2024, the Airbus A321 was flying from Frankfurt, Germany to Seville, Spain and had around 199 Passengers and six crew members onboard. The plane was just 30 minutes away from landing, when the 43-year-old captain left the cockpit to use the restroom. In his absence, a 38-year-old co-pilot was present in the cockpit to control the aircraft. He appeared to be alert and fine, when the captain stepped out.

After approximately eight minutes, the captain returned to the cockpit. But to his surprise, he was unable to access the cockpit by entering the security door's access code. He tried to enter the code five times, but failed each time. However, after an intercom call went unanswered, but they all went unanswered, a situation of panic was caused for the captain. This prompted him to activate the emergency access code. At this moment, the co-pilot opened the door manually from inside. 

The Co-pilot fainted

When the co-pilot opened the door, the captain found him pale and sweating. He was also behaving strangely. The co-pilot lost his consciousness mid-air. The captain immediately took control of the plane. He also called for medical assistance from the cabin crew. A doctor, who was a passenger, examined the co-pilot, and suggested that he might has a heart condition. Then, the plane was diverted to the nearest airport in Madrid, where the co-pilot was immediately taken to the hospital.

As per the findings, the co-pilot could not recall how long he had been unconscious. He stated that before blacking out, he remembered to fly over Zaragoza, Spain. The plane was pilotless for this ten-minute, but the autopilot kept the aircraft stable. The cockpit's voice recorder also recorded strange voices during this period.

The co-pilot's "sudden and severe incapacitation" was caused by a neurological condition that triggered a seizure, making him unconscious. His medical certificate was also temporarily suspended.

On this incident, Lufthansa stated that it was aware of this and had conducted its own internal investigations. The findings are not disclosed yet.