British Airways flight BA640 departed at around 8.10 am on
Saturday morning for what should have been a near three hour flight to the
Greek capital. As the plane neared Zadar in Croatia, however, the Captain
reportedly decided to make an airborne return to Heathrow because the First
Officer was feeling unwell.
In fact, the co-pilot was so sick that the Captain indicated
that he was considering a medical diversion to either Paris or Zurich. As the
plane neared Zurich, the First Officer fell unconscious prompting the Captain
to make an unscheduled stop in Switzerland.
The plane landed safely in Zurich without further incident
and eventually departed for Athens nearly six hours later. Passengers finally
made it to their final destination some nine hours later than they had been
expecting.
In a statement, a spokesperson reassured that the plane
remained in the full control of the Captain saying: “The safety of our
customers and crew is always our top priority and our teams looked after
customers before they carried on their journey to Athens yesterday evening.”
British Airways was not able to give an update on the
condition of the First Officer or explain why the pilot had been sickened.
In the last year, British Airways has had to deal with
several incidents involving its pilots being taken sick at the controls. In
February, two pilots flying another Airbus A320 “felt dizzy and faint” after a
so-called ‘fume’ or ‘odour’ event onboard a flight from London Gatwick to
Tenerife.
And in January, a First Officer passed out after another
strange odour filled the flight deck of a British Airways operated Airbus A320
which was flying from Athens to London Heathrow.
On each occasion, British Airways says passenger safety has
never been put at risk and that the aircraft involved are only cleared to fly
after being put through a series of tests performed by skilled engineers.
There’s no suggestion that a ‘fume event’ caused the latest
pilot incapacitation, although what exactly caused the First Officer to pass
out remains a mystery.