A Jet2 flight from Birmingham, England heading to Antalya, Turkey required an emergency landing in Thessaloniki, Greece, on Tuesday after a passenger was told that the pilot passed out in a frightening instance that began with a bout of turbulence, according to a Birmingham Live report.
“While we were all [seated] we noticed something was going on at the front of the plane,” the unnamed passenger told Birmingham Live. “We thought someone had hurt themselves in the toilet while experiencing turbulence. We were told we were landing in Greece due to a medical emergency on board. We weren’t told what part.”
The passenger also said that “people were worried as we’d just been through turbulence and didn’t know what was happening.”
According to what the passenger told Birmingham Live, the arrival was delayed by eight hours. During the delay, the family of four received vouchers worth $59.79 for meals. The passengers said they would not receive compensation as Jet2 doesn’t cover delays caused by a medical emergency,
“Flight LS1239 from Birmingham to Antalya diverted to Thessaloniki Airport as a precautionary measure on Tuesday due to one fo the pilots feeling unwell. A replacement crew was flown to Thessaloniki so that we could get customers on their way to Antalya that same evening,” a Jet2 spokesperson told Insider.
“We communicated this to our customers as soon as possible, and our teams worked extremely hard to look after everyone. We would like to apologize to anyone affected by this unforeseen delay.”
As shortages grip the industry and constantly test their endurance, pilot welfare has increasingly become focused.
Just last week, the Aviation Herald made a report that an Ethiopian Airlines flight missed its descent after both pilots fell asleep in the air.
Investigations by regulators have been made on other airlines such as WizzAir amid fears that the airline is encouraging pilots to fly while tired and take on extra trips.
