Red alert issued: Co-pilot faints on flight carrying 193 passengers

A red alert was issued last week after an easyJet co-pilot fainted while ferrying nearly 200 passengers from the UK to Portugal. The flight managed to land safely “in line with procedures” at the Lisbon airport with the co-pilot being met by paramedics on the runway.
According to a report by The Independent, the incident took place while flight EZY2459 from Luton airport in London was approaching its destination. A rare red alert was issued after the medical emergency in order to safeguard the crew and passengers. A red alert incidentally calls for a mandatory halt of operations as a safety measure on a plane. Those embarking on the return journey to Luton were subsequently delayed by around three hours following the incident.
“EasyJet can confirm that the flight EZY2459 from Luton to Lisbon was met by the paramedics upon landing due to a pilot member feeling unwell. The captain landed the flight routinely in line with procedures and passengers disembarked normally. At no point was the safety of the flight compromised,” the publication quoted an easyJet spokesperson as saying.
The development comes mere days after an United Airlines flight was diverted after crew members began vomiting due to an onboard “biohazard”. Flight 2477 was forced to land in Washington DC for a “deep clean” after a passenger became ill and triggered a chain reaction among fellow travellers and even the crew.
“I talked to the crew and it sounds like it’s quite bad back there. The crew is vomiting, and passengers all around are asking for masks,” New York Post had quoted a crew member as saying in audio from the flight.
Cases of pilots becoming sick in mid-air have also been reported in the past. Earlier in October 2023, both the captain and the co-pilot of a British Airways flight took ill in the cockpit after reporting a ‘foul odour’.