A Jet2 flight from Lanzarote declared an emergency before landing at Manchester Airport on Tuesday evening after one of the pilots became incapacitated during the final approach.
Flight LS980 transmitted a squawk 7700 general emergency code around 25 minutes before it was due to land in Manchester.
Reports indicate Air Traffic Control was notified that one of the pilots was unable to continue their duties due to a ‘medical issue’.
A Jet2 spokesperson told GB News: “Flight LS980 from Lanzarote to Manchester requested a priority landing yesterday evening, due to one of the pilots feeling unwell.
“The aircraft landed safely and customers disembarked as normal.”
Having taken off from Lanzarote at 3.45pm, the flight proceeded as normal until the final approach, with emergency services including medics waiting at the airport for the flight’s arrival.
Air traffic control gave the plane priority handling and it touched down at Manchester Airport at 8.14pm, thanks to the co-pilot who safely landed the plane after the captain fell ill.
The aircraft was parked on a stand, where the affected pilot was met by medical professionals.
The flight called in the emergency 25 minutes from Manchester.
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Most commercial flights typically have a captain and first officer – if one of them falls ill or cannot continue duties, they can make the decision on who between them lands the plane.
The flight in question was an Airbus A321, typically seating anywhere from 185 to 200 passengers depending on model and airline configuration.
Manchester Airport is one of Jet2’s biggest hubs, and the airline flies to over 70 destinations across Europe from Terminal 2.
Lanzarote is a popular winter sun destination with up to four Jet2 flights per day between the airport and the popular holiday island.
The scare followed a separate emergency earlier on Tuesday, where Greater Manchester Police confirmed two men died after an aircraft crashed in the town of Littleborough, Rochdale.
The Cirrus light aircraft had taken off from Birmingham on Tuesday and crashed in a farmland area of Littleborough shortly after 11am.
Greater Manchester Police does not believe there was anyone else on board, and there are no reported injuries on the ground.
Another medical emergency earlier on Tuesday involved a passenger on a Delta Air Lines flight DL234 from New York’s John F. Kennedy International to Tel Aviv.
The Airbus A330 flight also declared an emergency while flying over the UK in the early hours of Tuesday.
Having departed at 3.28pm on Monday, a squawk 7700 was transmitted around four hours into its 10-hour journey.
Reports indicate the pilots requested an immediate diversion to Dublin after one of the 176 people on board experienced a “serious medical emergency”.
According to reports, the aircraft made a heavyweight landing exceeding its maximum landing weight, still carrying a large amount of fuel for its journey from America to the Middle East.
The aircraft touched down safely at Dublin Airport, where paramedics awaited the passenger and took them to a nearby hospital.