Southwest Pilot Suffers Medical Emergency In Flight — Off-Duty Flyer Steps In

Officials from Southwest Airlines confirmed on Wednesday that an off-duty captain who was traveling with a customer out of Las Vegas assisted in assuming control of the plane shortly after flight when the captain experienced an incident.

Around 6:30 a.m., Southwest Flight 6013 departed Las Vegas, Nevada, for Columbus, Ohio, when the commander passed out from abdominal pain, according to ABC. A flight crew member was heard by CNN recording air traffic control voice, informing authorities that” the captain became exhausted while en direction.”

A credentialed pilot from another airline flying with Southwest entered the cockpit and” assist with radio communication while our Southwest Pilot flew the aircraft ,” according to airline spokesperson Chris Perry.

The unnamed off-duty captain alerted control building users that flight attendants were with the Southwest aircraft in the back of the aircraft, according to air traffic sound reported by ABC.

According to air traffic controllers, the captain said,” But we need to get him on an ambulance right away.”

According to flight officials, the captain rerouted the plane to Las Vegas, where crisis health personnel were waiting to take care of the captain’s health requirements. Southwest set up a different flight team to take the customers where they needed to go.

Southwest said in a speech,” We commend the crowd for their expertise and appreciate our customers’ patience and understanding of the situation.”

The fender condition was not immediately disclosed by Southwest leaders.

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Southwest claimed to” get assistance from traveling health personnel during in-flight medical events” as” regular procedure.”

The airport stated that” this circumstances just now happened to include one of our Employees.”

Reminding flight personnel of the” need for continued vigilance and attention to mitigation of safety risks ,” the Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA ) has started looking into the incident.

Since January, there have been six runway instances, including” a near miss at JFK Airport in January and a Southwest flight that recently came within 200 metres of slamming into an emergency crossing the rail at Baltimore’s aircraft ,” according to FAA authorities.

The FAA stated that” while the entire numbers do not reveal an increase in incidents and occurrences, the potential magnitude of these events is about.”