Jet2 flight makes emergency landing after pilot 'fainted' at 30,000ft

2022-08-26

Jet2 flight from Birmingham is forced to make emergency landing after pilot ‘fainted’ at 30,000ft

Passengers experienced a moment of terror when their pilot fainted on Tuesday
There was a commotion at the front of the plane following a bout of turbulence
Plane heading from Birmingham to Antalya, Turkey, made an emergency landing
Passengers were left on runway at Greece’s Thessaloniki airport for over an hour
They will not receive compensation as medical emergencies are not covered in Jet2’s compensation policy

Shaken air passengers experienced a moment of terror at 30,000 feet on Tuesday when their pilot reportedly ‘fainted’, forcing the co-pilot to make an emergency landing.

A Jet2 flight was heading from Birmingham Airport to Antalya in Turkey on August 23, but had to make an unscheduled stop in Greece due to what the airline called a medical emergency.

Passengers knew something was wrong when there was a commotion at the front of the plane, which took place on Tuesday, August 23.

One traveller told Birmingham Live the ordeal started when the plane hit some turbulence.

‘While we were all [seated] we noticed something was going on at the front of the plane.

‘We thought someone had hurt themselves in the toilet while experiencing turbulence… then we were told we were landing in Greece due to a medical emergency on board.

The passenger added they weren’t told a pilot had fainted and the plane rapidly began to descend before landing on the tarmac at Thessaloniki airport.

A Jet2 spokesperson insisted the flight was diverted as a ‘precautionary measure’.

A Jet2 flight was heading from Birmingham Airport to Antalya in Turkey on August 23, but had to make an unscheduled stop in Greece due to what the airline called a medical emergency

The delayed traveller said staff did ‘all they could’ to keep people updated once the passengers had filed out of the plane and into the airport terminal.

But they were not allowed to disembark until an ambulance had evacuated the stricken pilot, which took more than an hour.

Stewards reportedly informed flyers the pilot had ‘fainted’ once travellers arrived in the airport.

But medical emergencies are not covered in Jet2’s compensation policy, meaning the delayed passengers received no compensation.

One fuming holidaymaker claimed the ordeal had delayed the start of their holiday by eight hours.

They said their family of four were given one 15 euro voucher each which covered a ‘basic meal’, but were offered no refunds or discounts to future flights.

A Jet2 spokesperson said: ‘Flight LS1239 from Birmingham to Antalya diverted to Thessaloniki Airport as a precautionary measure on Tuesday (August 23)’

‘People were worried as we’d just been through turbulence and we didn’t know what was happening,’ one traveller said.

‘[Passengers] then got frustrated as once we were off the plane no one was updating us. The crew were amazing but once in the airport it was chaos.’

A Jet2 spokesperson said: ‘Flight LS1239 from Birmingham to Antalya diverted to Thessaloniki Airport as a precautionary measure on Tuesday (August 23) due to one of the pilots feeling unwell.

‘A replacement crew were flown to Thessaloniki so that we could get customers on their way to Antalya that same evening.

‘We communicated this to our customers as soon as possible, and our teams worked extremely hard to look after everyone.

‘We would like to apologise to anyone affected by this unforeseen delay.’

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