Passengers were left scared and upset after their pilot “fainted” mid-air. The flight from the Birmingham Airport to Antalya in Turkey had to land in Greece. The emergency landing was due to a ‘medical emergency in the cockpit.’
As the plane flew toward Turkey, it encountered some rough turbulence. People onboard became scared as the plane bumped through the air. But, they became even more terrified when they saw and heard a commotion at the front of the plane. Reportedly, one passenger said: “‘While we were all seated we noticed something was going on at the front of the plane. We thought someone had hurt themselves in the toilet while experiencing turbulence.”
What we know:
The flight attendant came on the speaker and told the nervous crowd that the pilot had fainted. Because of this, they would be making an emergency landing in Greece. The passenger continued, “We were told we were landing in Greece due to a medical emergency on board. We weren’t told what part.”
Emergency landing:
Landing in Thessaloniki, Greece, the plane sat on the runway for an hour waiting for emergency services to arrive to assist the pilot. The passengers grew more and more distraught. Eventually, all of the passengers were released from the plane.
No updates:
Once in the terminal though, nothing got better. No one knew what happened for sure. The airline didn’t issue any travel vouchers for the delay and stress everyone on the plane suffered. Some faced travel delays even beyond the initial delay when landing in Greece.
A statement from the airline:
“Flight LS1239 from Birmingham to Antalya diverted to Thessaloniki Airport as a precautionary measure on Tuesday (August 23) due to one of the pilots feeling unwell.” Jet2 released the statement continuing, “A replacement crew were flown to Thessaloniki so that we could get customers on their way to Antalya that same evening.”
Compensation?
At the time of this writing, only fifteen pound vouchers were given to passengers, leaving them not just scared but extremely upset. Why such a small amount? Medical emergencies aren’t part of the company’s policy.