A Lufthansa flight to Spain flew with no one at the wheel for 10 minutes after the co-pilot lost consciousness while alone in the cockpit, according to a report from German news agency dpa.
The incident occurred on a flight from Frankfurt to Seville on February 17, 2024.
While the 43-year-old captain was using the restroom, the 38-year-old co-pilot of the Airbus A321 fainted.
That left the aircraft, which carried 199 passengers and six crew members, without anyone at the controls for approximately 10 minutes, dpa said.
The news agency cited a report from the Spanish accident investigation authority CIAIAC as the source of the information.
The pilot said his co-pilot seemed “able and alert” when he left the cockpit with about 30 minutes remaining in the flight.
Lufthansa confirmed its awareness of both the incident and the subsequent investigations, stating that its internal flight safety department had also conducted a separate inquiry.
However, the airline declined to disclose the findings of its investigation.
Although the unconscious co-pilot apparently operated the controls unintentionally, the aircraft was able to continue flying in a stable manner thanks to the active autopilot.
During this time period, the voice recorder recorded strange noises in the cockpit that were consistent with an acute health emergency, dpa reported.
The captain initially tried entering the cockpit the regular door opening code, which triggers a buzzer in the cockpit so that the co-pilot can open the door.
He did so five times without being able to enter the cockpit.
A stewardess also tried to contact the co-pilot using the onboard telephone, dpa reported.
Finally, the captain typed in an emergency code that would have allowed him to open the door on his own.
However, shortly before the door would have opened automatically, the co-pilot opened it from the inside despite being ill, dpa reported.
The pilot then decided to make an unplanned landing in Madrid, where his colleague was taken to a hospital.
