A Lufthansa Airbus A321 was left without an active pilot for approximately 10 minutes after the first officer collapsed while alone in the cockpit. The incident occurred on 17 February 2024 during flight LH1140 from Frankfurt to Seville, with over 200 passengers on board.
The captain had stepped out to use the bathroom when the 38-year-old first officer suddenly lost consciousness. On his return, the captain was unable to access the locked flight deck, and repeated attempts to reach the first officer failed. Just before an emergency override code expired, the first officer regained partial consciousness and opened the door.
Described as “pale, sweating, and moving strangely,” the first officer was treated by cabin crew and a doctor onboard as the captain diverted the flight to Madrid. He was later diagnosed with a seizure disorder caused by a neurological condition, which had not previously shown symptoms.
The aircraft remained grounded for approximately 5.5 hours in the Spanish capital before continuing to its original destination.
Spanish investigators concluded the incapacitation was unforeseeable and urged EU aviation authorities to review policies around solo occupancy of the flight deck.
Do they STILL allow a single pilot to remain in the cockpit behind a locked door in Europe?! After the intentional pilot suicide crash (German Wings, 2015, A320, 150 dead, as I recall) that killed ALL on board, you would think the law would require changes. At least, you would think airlines would get smarter and change the policy. Apparently not?! Change the regulations and force them to!
In the USA, a Flight Attendant enters the cockpit and remains there, so there is NEVER a single person inside at any time. Seems like an obvious solution. Why take a huge risk when it’s easy to solve?
Surprised at you, Lufthansa! I will avoid any airline that allows this kind of thing.
Aviation is about risk and the statistics associated with a specific scenario. So pilots cannot fly passengers after the age of 65 due to statistical risk of a medical event. Commercial pilots can’t fly solo, for the same reason. Two pilots over the age of 60 cannot fly together, same reason. Pilots can only leave the flight deck in the cruise when the autopilot is engaged, so if a medical event occurs then it’s low risk in a low workload phase of flight. If you’re worried about this event, to the point of not flying with airlines that don’t send cabin crew in during toilet breaks for pilots, then consider this. Judging by ICAO accident statistics of 2024, you are 3 times more likely to be involved in an accident when flying Boeing than Airbus. Now statistics don’t tell the full story and we need to examine the detail before making conclusions, but I wonder if you will now avoid Boeing aircraft. So in this case, there was no medical history of such events, the process of entering the cockpit in an emergency worked. And all was well. Had a member of cabin crew been in the cockpit then perhaps the event would have been resolved marginally quicker but not necessarily more safely. I suppose the point is that we cannot mitigate every risk. And the risk you speak of is NOT A HUGE RISK as you claim. It is statistically very low. I would be more concerned about how an airline protects the flight deck from intruder entry when crew are entering and exiting in flight. This to me is much more relevant and statistically, much more of a threat. Next time you fly, watch the process, and you’ll see some that don’t protect the door very well at all.
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