A flying instructor passed away in the air after having a heart arrest, but the co-pilot mistook him for a fool and didn't know it until they touched down on the runway with the instructor slumped over their shoulders.
A recently released safety report on the event claims that on June 29, 2022, as the pilot and instructor were flying a circle above Blackpool Airport in Lancashire, UK, the pilot believed the instructor was pretending to be sleeping.
According to the UK's Air disaster Investigation Branch investigation, the qualified pilot requested that the instructor join him in the four-person Piper PA-28 for safety concerns amid windy circumstances.
According to the pilot's statement to the AAIB, the couple regularly conversed before takeoff as he taxied the aircraft to the runway. He reported that the instructor said, "Looks good, there is nothing behind you," as his final remarks.
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The instructor's head rolled back soon after takeoff. The co-pilot believed his partner was "simply pretending to take a sleep" while he finished the circuit because the two pilots were well acquainted, according to the report. The instructor slumped down so that his head rested on the co-shoulder pilot's while the plane circled, but the pilot once more believed a practical joke was on him.
After safely landing, the pilot noticed something was awry and informed airport emergency services with the teacher still lying on his shoulder and not responding. Nevertheless, they were unable to recover the instructor.
Before his farewell flight, the instructor, who had about 9,000 hours of flying expertise, was reportedly in excellent spirits.
The AAIB investigation stated, "he was his usual happy self, and there were no indicators that he was feeling unwell." The three companions who had flown with him for the trial session soon before the incident trip reported that he appeared to be in good health and that nothing unusual had happened.
After looking into the occurrence and the instructor's past health, the medical division of the UK Civil Aviation Authority concluded that "Based on the evidence supplied, it is likely the individual experienced a cardiac arrest as the aircraft took off." Although his blood pressure was above average, it was within acceptable levels.
While the instructor's co-pilot was certified and landed the plane safely in this instance, the AAIB's assessment states that things may have turned out very differently.
AAIB: "A compromise needs to be established between limiting the risk to flight safety and providing fair and reasonable medical assessment of persons" because "no testing or assessment can deliver a 100% reliable detection of cardiac problems." The rarity of incidents brought on by cardiac arrests while flying indicates that the balance is now adequate.
The three people who had flown with him for the trial
