Flyger fikk angst og måtte forlate cockpit - Curt Lewis

easyJet pilot suffers mid-air anxiety attack during flight with 148 passengers


The unnamed easyJet crew member had to leave the cockpit before arrival at Glasgow, a report by the Air Accident Investigation Branch revealed today

The co-pilot suffered a panic attack during a flight (Image: MEN MEDIA)

An easyJet co-pilot suffered a panic attack while a plane was approaching a runway in Scotland after a tricky landing the previous day.

A report released today said the crew member had to leave the cockpit of the Airbus A319-111 on the approach to Glasgow.

There were 148 passengers and six crew onboard when it happened.

Despite the incident, the flight landed safely.

His anxiety was triggered by a go-around the day before at just 30 feet and his worries which built up over the course of his duty the following day last September.

It happened on the approach to Glasgow Airport (Image: PA)

The experienced 50-year-old commander and his cabin crew worked together to land the plane safely and get medical help for the co-pilot, an Air Accident Investigation Branch report released today revealed.

The report said the day before the incident, the two pilots had flown together from Glasgow to Palma de Mallorca and back.

The report said:"The co-pilot was pilot flying for the Glasgow to Palma de Mallorca sector. During the approach to Palma de Mallorca, at approximately 30ft, a change in the wind displaced the aircraft towards the runway edge.

The commander took control during the flare and executed a go-around."

The next day the same pair flew from Glasgow to Stanstead with the commander as pilot.

But on their return to Glasgow that evening the co-pilot was flying but began to suffer with anxiety and was unable to continue and left the cockpit.

The commander - with nearly 14,000 hours flying experience- took control and issued an alert saying the plane only had one pilot.

An ambulance crew said the co-pilot had suffered an anxiety attack.

The commander said his colleague seemed 'fine' after the go-around but on the return flight to Scotland was 'subdued' and 'seemed annoyed with himself'.

The unnamed co-pilot, with 686 hours flying experience, said the wind change and go-around at Palma was the first time he had experienced that and he found it frightening.