A pilot flying for Ryanair, from Barcelona to Porto, suffered a brief fainting spell “but recovered, and the plane landed normally” – which is more that can be said for a number of other flights this weekend, which have either been delayed or cancelled due to the second weekend of strike action by ground handlers, employed by Menzies (formerly Groundforce).
A full report on the number of flights affected will come next week, but in the meantime, information on the fainting pilot is minimal.
A source from INEM (the National Institute of Medical Emergencies) confirmed that operatives received an alert today at 8:19 am that a pilot on a Ryanair plane bound for Porto’s Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport, had suffered “a rapidly recovering syncope” and that he “apparently recovered during the flight.”
An ambulance from the Moreira da Maia Fire Department and a Medical, Emergency, and Resuscitation Vehicle (VMER) from Pedro Hispano Hospital were nonetheless dispatched to Sá Carneiro Airport, where the pilot received assistance, but refused to go to hospital “and remained at the airport”
Flight FR 4587 landed as scheduled. The passengers may not even have been aware that their pilot had briefly been unconscious.
Lusa adds that it has contacted a source at ANA Airports, but not yet been able to obtain any clarification on this incident.
Source material: LUSA
