“Lights began flashing, and hostesses were visibly upset, seeking a doctor," one passenger recalled
Credit: Joan Valls/Urbanandsport/NurPhoto via Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- A Jet2 flight from Spain to England was diverted to Portugal
- Passengers claimed they saw several flight attendants asking people on the plane if anyone was medically trained to deal with an emergency
- The airline said in a statement that one of the pilots began “feeling unwell” during the flight
A pilot who was flying from Spain to England experienced a medical emergency on board, which resulted in the plane having to make an emergency landing.
The incident happened on a Jet2 flight bound from Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands to Birmingham, England, according to The Sun, which cited the airline.
A spokesperson for the airline told the outlet in a statement that Flight LS1266 was “diverted” to Porto, Portugal, “due to one of the pilots feeling unwell.”
“At no point was safety compromised, and customers subsequently continued their journey,” the spokesperson added. “We would like to apologize to customers for this unforeseen delay.”
Credit: Joan Valls/Urbanandsport /NurPhoto via Getty
In a separate message on X, the company said the flight was delayed due to “unforeseen operational reasons” while responding to someone’s question about it. The airline did not elaborate further on the reason behind this.
PEOPLE has reached out to Jet2 for comment on the incident.
According to the flight tracking website Flight Aware, the flight was diverted a little more than three hours after it took off from Tenerife South Airport at 11:17 p.m. local time on Thursday, May 21.
Passengers on the flight told The Sun that they saw several flight attendants asking people on the plane if anyone was medically trained to deal with an emergency in the cockpit. They claimed they noticed the plane suddenly drop in altitude as it made an emergency landing in Portugal.
“My partner and I were asleep when we were awoken by chaos,” one unnamed passenger told the outlet. “Lights began flashing, and hostesses were visibly upset, seeking a doctor.”
“Our 2-year-old began crying like many other children on board because the aircraft was dropping so quickly for an emergency landing,” they added.
The plane landed in Portugal at around 2:11 a.m. on Friday, May 22, and emergency service personnel met the plane on the runway, according to The Sun. Medics went on board and transported a pilot to a nearby hospital, per the outlet.
Credit: Getty
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A passenger told The Sun that the airline informed them that the pilot had “suffered a heart attack in the cockpit.”
The Sun reported that Jet2 flew in a pilot from Manchester to Porto to complete the flight.
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