Jet2 pilot flying Brits from Tenerife to Birmingham suffers ‘heart attack’ at 30,000ft
The flight from Tenerife to Birmingham broke out in chaos after the pilot was suspected to have suffered a heart attack during the flight.
Jet2 flight LS1266 was forced to make an emergency landing in Portugal late on Thursday after the captain began ‘not feeling well’ at 30,000ft.
In the horrific incident, airline staff raced down the aisle desperately to find any paramedic among the passengers who could treat the captain.
It is understood that the Airbus A321 aircraft suddenly lost altitude after the crew had to make an emergency landing in Porto at 2.11am on Friday morning.
When the plane landed, paramedics rushed to the plane and administered emergency first aid before the pilot was taken to hospital.
But some 220 passengers were stranded at Francisco Sa Carneiro airport for more than 13 hours as they had to wait for another pilot to fly them home.
Passengers said they remained on the tarmac for more than an hour and were unable to get off the plane.
The airline is understood to have told customers that accommodation was ‘too expensive’ and so they were ‘left to wander’.
A Jet2 pilot suspected of having a heart attack forced a late-night Tenerife-Birmingham flight to make an emergency landing in Porto (File image)
Passengers bound for Birmingham were stranded in Portugal for 13 hours on Friday before another captain arrived from Manchester to fly them home (File image)
One passenger told The Irish Sun: ‘We were stranded in Portugal for over 13 hours with no accommodation. They didn’t let us off the plane for more than an hour.
‘Then we were left to wander around. There was nowhere to stay. They said the accommodation was too expensive.’
The airline then flew a pilot from Manchester to Porto so the stranded passengers could return home. Jet2 later told customers that the pilot ‘had a heart attack in the cockpit’.
Another passenger told the newspaper that her partner was startled when he woke up to ‘chaos’.
Their two-year-old child burst into tears when ‘the lights started flashing’ and the plane ‘went down very quickly’.
They said the crew was ‘visibly upset’ and was ‘looking for a doctor’.
A Jet2 spokesman said: ‘Flight LS1266 from Tenerife to Birmingham was diverted to Porto on Thursday 21 May due to one of the pilots feeling unwell.
‘At no point was safety compromised and customers then continued their journey. We would like to apologize to our customers for this unforeseen delay.’
The Daily Mail has contacted the airline for further comment.
