The pilot had a panic attack while boarding an aircraft with 148 passengers on board

The co-pilot of the British airline EasyJet suffered a panic attack as the plane approached the runway in Scotland. The day before, when landing the plane with the same flight crew, when the airliner had already lowered to a height of 30 feet (9,14 m), the dispatcher instructed the pilots not to sit down and go into the second round. This incident may have shaken the nerves of the co-pilot, resulting in a panic attack the next day. Writes about this Mirror.

Фото: Depositphotos

The incident happened in September 2018, but until September 2019, the investigation lasted, and a report on it was published only now. The report said that the pilot was forced to leave the cockpit of the A319-111 airbus on the way to Glasgow (Scotland) due to a panic attack.

When this happened, there were 148 passengers and six crew members on board. Despite the incident, the plane landed safely.

The day before the incident, both pilots flew together from Glasgow to Palma de Mallorca. When approaching this flight, an emergency occurred, and the dispatcher sent the liner to the second round. The next day, the same pair of pilots flew from Glasgow to Stansted.

But when approaching Glasgow, the second pilot began to suffer from anxiety, could not continue to control the aircraft and left the cockpit.

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The commander—with nearly 14 hours of flying experience—took control and warned the controller that the plane had only one pilot.

A report from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) states that an incident occurred the day before that may have exacerbated the pilot's distress and led to him panicking as he landed the plane when it was already at an altitude of 30 feet. The controller told the plane not to land and make a go-around because strong winds had pushed the plane to the edge of the runway.

An experienced 50-year-old first pilot and cabin crew worked together to land the plane safely. The co-pilot received medical attention. A medical team said the co-pilot suffered a panic attack.

The first pilot said that his colleague looked “good” after the incident on approaching the second round, but on the return flight to Scotland he was “depressed” and “seemed annoyed”.

The unnamed co-pilot, with 686 hours of flying experience, said the wind change and missed approach in Palma de Mallorca was the first time he had experienced something like this, so he was very scared.

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He slept only four hours that night, but he felt good enough to fly.

“The co-pilot reported that he felt a lot of nervousness during the flights to and from Stansted and was 'overthinking' about the need to get everything right. He felt it was critical to regain his confidence to complete the task,” the incident investigation report states.

“Eventually his emotions and associated physical symptoms caused him to panic,” the report said.

Wind changes and go-arounds are normal events and maneuvers regularly practiced in the simulator, but the co-pilot was scared and this caused self-criticism and pressure.

At that time, he did not know about the support from colleagues or the help offered by his employers.

The airline said: “EasyJet assisted in the investigation of the AAIB, which confirmed that the captain made a safe landing with the help of the crew and the air traffic control service.”

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“The safety of those on board was not at risk. The safety and well-being of our passengers and crew is the airline’s highest priority,” EasyJet said.

“We always take measures to ensure that our pilots are fully prepared to work. We offer support through the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), a pilot program to support colleagues,” says EasyJet. “All pilots are licensed by aviation regulators and as part of this are subject to extensive regular medical examinations, which include mental health assessments. After a full assessment by EasyJet, the aviation medical examiner and other medical professionals, the co-pilot was found fit to return to flight."

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