A Lufthansa flight cruising at 35,000 feet was left with no one flying the plane for a full 10 minutes in February 2024. Yep, you read that right.
According to reports from AP News, things took a wild turn on Lufthansa Flight LH1140 from Frankfurt to Seville when the captain took a bathroom break mid-flight. No big deal, right?
Except it became a huge deal when the co-pilot suddenly passed out — and the captain got locked out of the cockpit. Total nightmare fuel.
With the jet full of nearly 200 passengers, the aircraft kept cruising on autopilot while the captain frantically tried to get back in. The cockpit door? Locked tight. Emergency code? No luck. The guy just wanted to pee — and suddenly he’s in an aviation escape room.
Luckily, about 10 agonizing minutes later, the co-pilot came to. Dazed but conscious, he managed to open the door and let the captain back in. The flight was immediately diverted to Madrid, where it landed safely. Phew.
The co-pilot, it turns out, had suffered a seizure due to an undiagnosed medical condition, according to The Sun and Times of India. He was taken to a hospital and is now under medical care.
The incident is now sparking major discussions in aviation circles. Should airlines bring back the rule that requires two people to always be in the cockpit? (You might remember this was a thing after the Germanwings tragedy in 2015.)
Lufthansa had quietly dropped that rule a while back — but after this close call, that might be about to change.
Let’s be real: autopilot tech is great. But when the only human in charge blacks out and the captain is stuck outside like a locked-out roommate, it’s not exactly reassuring.