AN AER Lingus flight was forced to return to Cork Airport last week after the first officer (co-pilot) fell ill at the controls.
It had been previously thought, and reported, that the flight returned because of a technical issue but it has now emerged that the pilot turned back because his colleague was unwell.
Flight EI-876 left Cork at 6.53am on December 13th and was destined for Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, when the incident occurred.
The flight was about an hour into its journey and about 400km south of the Irish coast when the co-pilot complained of feeling unwell. When there was no sign of improvement, the captain decided to return to Cork.
The flight turned around and landed safely back at Cork at 8.56am, a little more than two hours after departing. The flight was rescheduled and left again soon after 2pm when a replacement crew member was found.
As a result, the return flight from Lanzarote, EI-877, which was due in Cork at 3.55pm, did not arrive until 11.30pm.
The Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) of the Department of Transport has confirmed that it was notified of the incident.
A spokeswoman said: “The AAIU is fully aware of this occurrence and followed up on it. The precautionary turn-back was related to the first officer feeling unwell.
The aircraft was landed without further incident. As there was no safety issue, no further action is required by the AAIU.”
Aer Lingus did not comment on the matter at the time and has still not made a statement.
On December 5th, an Aer Lingus flight to Milan was forced to make a U-turn over the Irish Sea and return to Dublin after a crack appeared in the jet’s windscreen.
Flight EI-432 was about 15 minutes into its flight when the pilot contacted controllers to advise them of the issue and requested permission to return to Dublin where the flight landed without incident.