An Aircraft Accident Investigation Board probe into an incident where an IndiGo co-pilot became unresponsive for 10 minutes during a Kolkata-Hyderabad flight in April 2017 has concluded that he had suffered a seizure and fainted. The incident had led to the aircraft with 180 passengers making an emergency landing in Bhubaneswar.
The AAIB report made public recently has recommended that the cabin crew must be fully trained and confident in handling a case of seizure.
Sequence of events
The probe revealed that everything was normal for almost 35 minutes after take-off. After crossing Bhubaneswar, while the aircraft was cruising at 36,000 feet, the first officer (co-pilot) felt irritation in the throat but was unable to drink water despite attempting twice. His hands and feet then became stiff. Within two-three minutes he suffered blurred vision and soon fell unconscious.
The lead cabin attendant along with another cabin attendant entered the cockpit and tried to revive the first officer but he remained unresponsive. The crew also found blood coming out of his mouth.
The attendants administered oxygen to the co-pilot and paged for a doctor on board in vain. The pilot-in-command then informed the Air Traffic Control about the medical emergency and initiated a diversion to Bhubaneswar.
The aircraft landed safely and he was rushed to hospital.
