Lufthansza flight spent about 10 minutes to fly without anyone riding the plane. The extraordinary situation occurred after the captain left to go to the bathroom, then the joint partners suffer from a sudden disease.
The accident occurred on February 17, 2024, but the results of the investigation were published by the investigation of Spanish civil aviation incidents and accidents (Ciaiac) only on Thursday (15).
The LH77X trip, which carried 205 people, left Frankfurt, Germany, towards Seville, Spain. At the time of the event, he was in the cruise stage – that is, at a constant and speedy altitude – and with the automated pilot.
According to the information received from the investigation report, the pilot left the command booth at 10:31 am on “physiological needs” and went to the bathroom. Before that, he spoke to participate about climatic conditions and operate the plane. According to the captain, the participant seemed “skilled and cautious” at the time.
The pilot returned at 10:39, but he could not reach the cabin. Try to enter the password four times, but to no avail.
Then a crew tried to call the command booth, but there was no answer. Disturbed by the situation, the pilot entered the emergency symbol.
Moments later, CO -PPIT opened the cabin door manually. It is still according to the report, it was “pale, sweating and moving strangely.”
After that, the investigation concluded that the cause of the sudden subscriber disease is a manifestation of symptoms of a condition that was not previously discovered during medical examinations. He had a valid testimony and had no restrictions on flying. After the episode, however, his medical certificate was suspended.
Lufthansa did not comment on the case.
After this case, the committee responsible for the investigation made an official recommendation to the European Aviation Agency to reassess the procedures and make it mandatory for two permanent people in the cabin throughout the flight.
