PeterRS Posted May 20 Posted May 20 On a flight from Frankfurt to Seville in Spain in February last year with 205 aboard, the pilot took a toilet break. Almost as soon as he was out of the cockpit and the door closed, the co-pilot fainted due to a pre-exiting neurological condition that had not been picked up in the routine pilot medical checks. When the captain returned, his input requests that the door be opened failed 5 times. He eventually used an emergency code and took control of the aircraft. Since the autopilot was flying the plane at that point there was no danger, although in losing consciousness the co-pilot had knocked the controls. The captain decided to divert to Madrid where the co pilot was taken to hospital. It is not known how Lufthansa enabled the flight to continue. Presumaby it flew another first officer from Germany. What makes this scary is the remembrance of German Wings flight 9525 in March 2015 when the co-pilot locked the captain out of the aircraft and then deliberately committed suicde and mass murder by flying the plane into the Alps. As a result, aviation authorities in several countries mandated that there always be two individuals in a cockpit at any one time. If a pilot requires a toilet break, he will first be replaced by a senior purser. This was to ensure that the automatic entry code would never be disabled. Yet German airlines dropped this condition in 2017! The accident enquiry also recommended a loosening of doctor/patient confidentialilty in the case of pilots. It had been discovered that in discussions with his doctor, the German Wings co-pilot had discussed suicide. https://edition.cnn.com/2025/05/19/travel/lufthansa-flight-spain-no-pilot-report-intl-hnk tm_nyc and khaolakguy 1 1 Quote
PeterRS Posted May 21 Author Posted May 21 "Airplane" was a great movie. Pity the clip ended before the co-pilot started leaking air and the stewardess had to give him a blow (up) job! My best line from the movie is when a stewardess (I know they should now be called flight attendants but that is how they they were described then) is offering tea and coffee. One 12-year old girl asks for coffee. "And how do you take your coffee, dear?" To which she responds, "Black, like my men!" bkkmfj2648 and unicorn 2 Quote
Members Pete1111 Posted May 21 Members Posted May 21 21 hours ago, PeterRS said: On a flight from Frankfurt to Seville in Spain in February last year with 205 aboard, the pilot took a toilet break. Almost as soon as he was out of the cockpit and the door closed, the co-pilot fainted due to a pre-exiting neurological condition that had not been picked up in the routine pilot medical checks. When the captain returned, his input requests that the door be opened failed 5 times. He eventually used an emergency code and took control of the aircraft. Since the autopilot was flying the plane at that point there was no danger, although in losing consciousness the co-pilot had knocked the controls. The captain decided to divert to Madrid where the co pilot was taken to hospital. It is not known how Lufthansa enabled the flight to continue. Presumaby it flew another first officer from Germany. What makes this scary is the remembrance of German Wings flight 9525 in March 2015 when the co-pilot locked the captain out of the aircraft and then deliberately committed suicde and mass murder by flying the plane into the Alps. As a result, aviation authorities in several countries mandated that there always be two individuals in a cockpit at any one time. If a pilot requires a toilet break, he will first be replaced by a senior purser. This was to ensure that the automatic entry code would never be disabled. Yet German airlines dropped this condition in 2017! The accident enquiry also recommended a loosening of doctor/patient confidentialilty in the case of pilots. It had been discovered that in discussions with his doctor, the German Wings co-pilot had discussed suicide. https://edition.cnn.com/2025/05/19/travel/lufthansa-flight-spain-no-pilot-report-intl-hnk I had to look up "senior purser". It was, as I guessed, the senior member of the cabin crew. I'm curious why Germany dropped that regulation. I am less and less comfortable flying lately. Quote
vinapu Posted May 21 Posted May 21 2 hours ago, Pete1111 said: I am less and less comfortable flying lately. then stay grounded Quote
Members unicorn Posted May 21 Members Posted May 21 12 hours ago, Pete1111 said: I had to look up "senior purser". It was, as I guessed, the senior member of the cabin crew. I'm curious why Germany dropped that regulation. I am less and less comfortable flying lately. I'm glad I don't fly with the Star Alliance, which includes Lufthansa (my airline's with OneWorld). I often see the purser go in the pilots' cabin when one of the two pilots goes to the bathroom. Like 9/11, that German Wings tragedy should never happen again. Ever. There's no good reason to leave anyone in the pilots' cabin alone. Quote
Members Pete1111 Posted June 17 Members Posted June 17 On 5/20/2025 at 7:51 PM, vinapu said: then stay grounded I have Quote
PeterRS Posted August 11 Author Posted August 11 On 5/21/2025 at 7:54 PM, unicorn said: I often see the purser go in the pilots' cabin when one of the two pilots goes to the bathroom. Like 9/11, that German Wings tragedy should never happen again. Ever. There's no good reason to leave anyone in the pilots' cabin alone. The primary reason for this was quite simple. No one would expect a purser to be able to fly the plane, but he/she will be able to unlock the cabin door to let the second pilot in. I believe this condition has now been abandoned as pilots have been given a second emergency code for opening the cabin door - a code that has a very short life span after use so that others can not make use of it. We have discussed the German Wings tragedy in several threads. We tend to forget that was not the first or even second case of pilot suicide leading to the total loss of the aircraft and all on board. The 1999 Egyptair flight out of New York has also been mentioned. But arguably the first was in Asia. Silkair was founded in 1989 and eventually became Singapore Airline's regional carrier. In December 1997 on a routine flight from Jakarta to Singapore, the Boeing 737-300 crashed into a river in Sumatra with the 104 on board all killed. The US NTSB Report concluded the crash was a result of pilot suicide. Others blamed a rudder malfunction. In 2021 Silkair ceased operations with its routes taken over by Singapore Airines and it new low cost carrier Scoot. Ruthrieston 1 Quote
