Corsair flight from Martinique to Paris diverts to Lajes, Azores, after captain becomes ill over the Atlantic

First officer took control immediately and declared ‘mayday’ before landing safely on the Portuguese island

With seven aircraft in its fleet – four Airbus A330s and three Boeing 747s –, the French airline Corsair operates frequent flights between Fort-de-France, the capital of French Caribbean island Martinique, and Orly Airport in Paris.

The flight on 17 January 2022, however, was subject to an incident considered serious by the French investigative authority BEA.

Corsair’s Airbus A330-900 registered F-HHUG, only one year old, was scheduled to operate flight SS925, from Fort-de-France (FDF) to Paris Orly (ORY). Take-off took place at 19:19, less than 20 minutes behind schedule.

As the plane approached the Azores without complications, the captain fell ill and was unable to operate the aircraft. The first officer took control of the aircraft and declared “mayday”.

Data from RadarBox.com reveals that it was 05:05 UTC when the A330-900 diverted towards Lajes (TER) and began the descent to a safe landing on runway 15, about 30 minutes later.

The aircraft remained on the ground for approximately 13 hours, then continued the flight and arrived in Paris with a delay of around 13.5 hours.

The French BEA classified the occurrence as a serious incident and opened an investigation.

Corsair did not disclose details about what would have caused the unease in its commander.

Source: R7 Noticias, The Aviation Herald, RadarBox