Pilot believed co-pilot who died during flight was ‘just pretending’, report finds

Pilot mistakenly thought co-pilot was ‘just pretending to take a nap’ during short flight
A light aircraft (stock photo)
PA
Josh Salisbury21 February 2023

A pilot continued to fly his plane after a co-pilot suffered a fatal cardiac arrest because he believed he was joking.

A report into the incident at Blackpool Airport on June 29 last year found the victim, a 57-year-old flight instructor, suffered a “sudden fatal heart attack” as the flight took off.

But his co-pilot, who knew the instructor well, mistakenly believed he was “just pretending” and so only realised there was something wrong upon landing.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch report found that had there not been another co-pilot “the outcome could have been different”.

But it said that the current health assessments required for pilots was “currently about right” and that no test or assessment could 100% accurately predict cardiac risk.

The report said the unnamed man, who had passed a medical four months earlier, agreed to join a short journey on a light aircraft around Blackpool Airport.

People who had spoken to him on the morning of the incident said he was his normal cheerful self and there were no indications that he was feeling unwell.

The surviving pilot said that during the taxi they were talking normally and recalled the instructor last saying, “looks good, there is nothing behind you”.

The instructor’s head “rolled back” shortly after takeoff, but he believed he was “just pretending to take a nap”.

It was only when the deceased pilot failed to respond upon landing that the co-pilot “realised something was wrong”.

Air ambulance medical crew, who are based at the airport, attempted to save the man but could not do so.

The Civil Aviation Authority's medical department found the instructor had likely died from acute cardiac arrest.

It said the “rarity” of such occurrences suggested current guidelines around medical checks were “about right”.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in