A Southwest Airlines flight from Las Vegas to Columbus, Ohio Wednesday was diverted back to its origin after its pilot suddenly became “incapacitated” and required urgent care.
According to radio traffic, the flight captain felt stomach pain and then “fainted or became incapacitated”. He was tended to in the back of the plane.
"We need to get him on an ambulance immediately," someone can be heard saying in a recording of radio communications from the plane.
A pilot for another airline happened to be on board and was able to assist with radio communication while the co-pilot guided the plane back to Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas.
"We commend the crew for their professionalism and appreciate our customers’ patience and understanding regarding the situation," a Southwest spokesperson said, according to NBC News.
The incident marks the fifth such occurrence in the last three weeks which saw a slew of pilots incapacitated during or close to their flights.
Passengers on a recent British Airways flight from Cairo to Heathrow Airport in London were held back when the captain suddenly collapsed and died of a heart attack just before the flight.
Italian media also reported this month that an Emirates flight from Milan to Dubai was forced to return to Malpensa airport after the flight’s first officer suffered a sudden, unidentified illness.
A United Airlines flight flying from Guatemala to Chicago was rerouted to Houston after the pilot reportedly suffered a medical emergency and became “incapacitated”. According to an internal communication, the pilot was suffering chest pains.
Earlier this month, a Virgin Australia flight from Adelaide to Perth was forced to make an emergency landing after its pilot suffered a heart attack thirty minutes into the flight.
Last month, Frontline News reported that a UK pilot whose instructor died suddenly mid-flight thought the older pilot was pulling a prank.
The incident occurred in June 2022 during a training flight from an airfield in Blackpool. The pilot recalls speaking normally with the 57-year-old instructor, with whom he enjoyed a friendly rapport, as he taxied on the runway. Shortly after takeoff, the instructor’s head rolled back. The pilot thought the instructor was pretending to take a nap and proceeded to fly the circuit. During a turn, the instructor slumped forward with his head resting on the pilot’s shoulder. The pilot still thought the instructor was joking around.
After touchdown, the instructor still had not lifted his head from the pilot’s shoulder and was unresponsive. The pilot alerted other aircraft personnel and an ambulance was brought in, but medics were unable to revive the instructor.
A post-mortem report found that the instructor, who had passed his physical test two months ago and was fit to fly, had suffered sudden acute cardiac failure.
24-year-old recreational pilot Sierra Lund, a victim of the COVID-19 vaccine who can no longer fly solo, emphasizes that commercial pilots undergo regular medical examinations for fitness to fly.
“I think one thing that the public needs to know is, if they hear of a pilot having a condition, or a heart attack in the cockpit, they aren’t just your average person. . . . I mean, these people go in for extensive medical screenings to keep their jobs,” said Lund. “So these should be the healthiest people out there.”
The young pilot has urged the FAA to investigate the vaccine’s harmful effects on pilots. Failure to do so, she warns, can be “extremely dangerous for the pilots and for the general public”.
“It’s a real big issue. . . . But as far as the FAA [Federal Aviation Administration], I think that they need to start investigating these cases of pilots and people in the aviation world that are getting adverse side effects and come up with a real solution,” she added.
In November, a newly-hired Envoy Air pilot collapsed just minutes after takeoff and was pronounced dead at the hospital shortly after an emergency landing, reported Frontline News.
Other reported cases include a passenger with no flying experience miraculously landing a plane after its pilot suddenly suffered a cardiac event and passed out mid-flight.
In another incident last year, American Airlines Captain Robert Snow suffered a cardiac arrest six minutes after landing, for which he blamed the COVID-19 vaccines.
In yet another harrowing episode, Captain Cody Flint nearly blacked out during his flight two days after getting injected with the COVID-19 shots. Though he safely landed the plane, Flint has no recollection of doing so.
American Airlines First Officer and co-founder of the aviation advocacy group US Freedom Flyers Josh Yoder is reportedly inundated with calls from private flyers requesting unvaccinated pilots to fly their jets.
“[Yoder is] getting calls now from wealthy businessmen and companies to fly their executives around on business jets with unvaccinated crew,” said Captain Alan Dana, who was terminated by JetStar after 14 years of service for refusing to comply with its vaccine mandate. “Now, they get the luxury of being able to choose, because there are still a large amount of crew available in the United States who are not vaccinated because the companies they work for didn’t mandate it.”
“These wealthy businessmen are requiring unvaccinated crew on their business trips,” Dana added. “Passengers on an airline who bought a ticket don’t have that luxury.”
The FAA, however, continues to deny there might be any link between medical emergencies among pilots and the COVID-19 vaccines.
