Lufthansa plane flown by autopilot after pilot faints in cockpit

A Lufthansa flight was flown by autopilot when the co-pilot, alone in the cockpit as the pilot had stepped away to use the bathroom, fainted, Spanish investigators said in a report about an incident last year that was released on Saturday.

The Airbus A321 flew without a pilot in charge for 10 minutes, the Spanish accident investigation authority CIAIAC said of the flight on February 17, 2024 from Frankfurt to Seville.

Lufthansa confirmed it was aware of the report and said its flight safety department had conducted an extensive internal investigation into the incident. But the company did not disclose the results of its investigation, stating: “We ask for your understanding that we will not comment beyond the investigation report.”

Although the unconscious co-pilot apparently unintentionally operated the controls, the aircraft continued to fly stably thanks to the active autopilot.

The voice recorder captured strange noises in the cockpit during this time which were consistent with an acute medical emergency, the report said.

Some 10 minutes later, the captain managed to open the cockpit security door using an emergency code. He had completed training for such an eventuality a month beforehand.