Must Be the Climate Change: Pilot of Packed Passenger Jet Becomes ‘Incapacitated,’ Plane Makes Emergency Landing

The news comes amid a recent rise in pilots and airline crew members suffering sudden medical emergencies mid-flight

Nov 06, 2023

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By Frank Bergman November 6, 2023

The pilot of a packed passenger jet became “incapacitated” during a flight from the UK to Turkey, causing the plane to make an emergency landing in Hungary.

The Jet2 Boeing 737-800, registration G-GDFP, was performing flight LS-1711 from Manchester, England to Dalaman, Turkey with 161 passengers and 6 crew on board.

The plane was enroute at FL370 about 80nm south-southwest of Budapest, Hungary when the crew put out an emergency call.

The co-pilot then diverted the aircraft to Budapest after the pilot reportedly became incapacitated.

The aircraft turned north toward Budapest and subsequently landed safely on the runway.

The jet was taxied to the gate where medical services were awaiting the aircraft.

A replacement Boeing 757-200 registration G-LSAI was positioned in Budapest and continued the flight delivering the passengers to Dalaman with a delay of about 5.5 hours.

The Boeing 737-800 resumed service about 5.5 hours after landing in Budapest.

The news comes amid a recent rise in pilots and airline crew members suffering sudden medical emergencies mid-flight, as Slay News has reported.

The following is a list of such incidents compiled by Canadian physician Dr. William Makis:

Pilot Incapacitations and Deaths in Aug-Sep 2023

Sep. 24, 2023 – Austrian Airlines Flight OS-188 (STR-VIE) Stuttgart to Vienna – The captain became incapacitated, and the first officer took control of the aircraft.

Sep. 23, 2023 – Alaska Airlines Pilot – 37-year-old Captain Eric McRae died suddenly in his hotel room during a layover, was to fly that morning.

Sep. 22, 2023 – Delta Flight DL-291 (CDG-LAX) Paris to Los Angeles – The pilot became incapacitated, and was taken to the cabin for care, the plane diverted to Minneapolis, pilot was taken to the hospital.

Aug. 27, 2023 – Air Canada Flight AC348 (YVR-YOW) Vancouver to Ottawa – One of the pilots felt ill and became incapacitated 50 min before landing in Ottawa.

Aug. 17, 2023 – IndiGo Flight (NAG-PNQ) Nagpur to Pune, India -The 40-year-old pilot Manoj Subramanium died after collapsing at the boarding gate, about to board.

Aug. 16, 2023 – Qatar Airways Flight QR579 (DEL-DOH) Delhi to Doha, Qatar – The 51-year-old pilot collapsed as a passenger inflight and died, the plane diverted to Dubai.

Aug. 14, 2023 – LATAM Flight LA505 (MIA-SCL) Miami to Santiago, Chile – 2 hours into the 8-hour flight, 56-year-old Captain Ivan Andaur collapsed and died in the lavatory – plane diverted to Panama City.

Aug. 9, 2023 – United Airlines UAL1309 (SRQ-EWR) Sarasota to Newark – The pilot had a heart attack and lost consciousness in flight.

Aug. 7, 2023 – TigerAIR Flight IT237 (CTS-TPE) Sapporo to Taipei – The copilot had a medical emergency after landing the plane in Taipei.

Pilot Incapacitations and Deaths (on Duty) Jan-July 2023:

July 19, 2023 – Eurowings Discover Flight 4Y-1205 (HER-FRA) Heraklion to Frankfurt – The pilot became incapacitated, the first officer took control, and landed safely.

July 16, 2023 – A small plane – a 2006 Piper Meridian, flying from Westchester NY – crashed at Martha’s Vineyard Airport after the pilot had a medical emergency upon final approach and a passenger took control of the plane and attempted a landing. The pilot, 79-year-old Randolph Bonnist, died later in hospital.

June 7, 2023 – Air Canada Flight ACA692 (YYZ-YYT) Toronto to St.John’s – First Officer became incapacitated, deadheading Captain assumed duties.

June 4, 2023 – Small plane – Cessna Citation N611VG flying from Tennessee to Long Island – Fighter jets spotted the pilot slumped over in the cockpit unconscious, the plane crashed and all onboard died.

May 11, 2023 – HiSKy Flight H4474 (DUB-KIV) Dublin to Chisinau (Moldova) – 20 min after liftoff pilot became “unable to act,” the plane was diverted to Manchester

May 4, 2023 – British Charter TUI Airways Flight BY-1424 (NCL-LPA) Newcastle to Las Palmas, Spain – The pilot became ill, and the plane diverted back to NCL.

May 3, 2023 – Air Transat and Air Canada Pilot Eddy Vorperian, age 48, died suddenly during a layover in Croatia.

April 21, 2023 – Easyjet Flight U2-6469 (LGW-AGA) London Gatwick to Agadir, Morocco – The first officer became incapacitated, and the plane was diverted to Faro, Portugal.

April 4, 2023 – United Airlines Flight 2102 (BOI-SFO) – The captain was incapacitated, and the first officer was the only one in control of the aircraft.

March 25, 2023 – TAROM Flight RO-7673 TSR-HRG diverted to Bucharest as 30 yo pilot had chest pain, and then collapsed.

March 22, 2023 – Southwest Flight WN6013 LAS-CMH diverted as the pilot collapsed shortly after take-off and was replaced by a non-Southwest pilot.

March 18, 2023 – Air Transat Flight TS739 FDF-YUL’s first officer was incapacitated about 200NM south of Montreal.

March 13, 2023 – Emirates Flight EK205 MXP-JFK diverted due to pilot illness an hour and a half after take-off.

March 11, 2023 – United Airlines Flight UA2007 GUA-ORD diverted due to an “incapacitated pilot” who had chest pains.

March 11, 2023 – A British Airways (CAI-LHR) pilot died of a heart attack in a crew hotel in Cairo before a Cairo to London flight (name & age not released).

March, 3, 2023 – Virgin Australia Flight VA-717 ADL-PER Adelaide to Perth flight was forced to make an emergency landing after the first officer suffered a heart attack 30 min after departure.

Military Pilot Incapacitations:

Aug. 18, 2023 – A US Army Aviation Center (Alabama) student pilot went into cardiac arrest behind the controls mid-flight (Aug.18, 2023). The instructor landed the plane – the pilot was dead for 18 minutes.