AN OFF-DUTY pilot helped to land a Lufthansa flight from Newark to Frankfurt at Dublin Airport yesterday morning after the flight’s co-pilot became incapacitated with a migraine.

The incident happened at around 5.30am yesterday morning when the co-pilot on board the Boeing 747 flight LH403 from Newark to Frankfurt took ill with a suspected migraine.

An off-duty pilot was a passenger on the plane and identified themselves to the cabin crew, offering to assist in landing the aircraft – which had declared a mayday – at Dublin Airport.

A spokesperson for Lufthansa said that the person was a fully-licensed pilot but said that even in their absence the captain would have maintained full control of the flight.

The spokesperson said that this was the case in this instance and the captain landed the plane with the passenger providing “extra back-up” according to the German airline’s spokesperson.

The flight landed at Dublin Airport shortly before 6am and the emergency was stood down.

A spokesperson for Dublin Airport Authority said: “There was an aircraft emergency, the flight landed as normal and the emergency was stood down.”

The co-pilot was taken to Beaumont Hospital as a precautionary measure and the long-haul aircraft continued its journey to Frankfurt later in the day.

This audio from air traffic control details some of the incident:

Making a difference

A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

For the price of one cup of coffee each week you can make sure we can keep reliable, meaningful news open to everyone regardless of their ability to pay.

Support us Learn More