[wheelguy]

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...4.cms?from=mdr

MUMBAI: An IndiGo pilot who was to operate a flight from Nagpur to Pune fell unconscious and collapsed at the boarding gate on Thursday. He was taken to a hospital where he was declared dead, said sources.

This is the third case of sudden death involving pilots this week, with two of the deceased being Indian pilots.

On Wednesday, a senior pilot with Qatar Airways, who was flying from Delhi to Doha as a passenger, fell ill on board and died. The flight QR 579 was diverted to Dubai following the medical emergency. The pilot had earlier worked with Alliance Air and SpiceJet.

Indigo's statement:

We are saddened at the passing of one of our pilots in Nagpur earlier today. He took unwell at Nagpur airport, rushed to hospital where he unfortunately passed away. Our thoughts & prayers are with his family & loved ones.

[anjan_c2007]

Today a pilot who was supposed to fly the Indigo Airlines flight from Nagpur to Pune, collapsed at 12.00 pm at the boarding gate at the Nagpur Airport, while he was all ready to go. He was rushed to a hospital where he was pronounced "brought dead". The hospital diagnosed it as a cardiac arrest, that he had suffered. The pilot was just 40 years old and had done flights on two sectors between 3.00 am to 7.00 am earlier yesterday from Trivandrum-Pune- Nagpur. He had a 27 hour rest before taking up his duties today the officials said.

On Wednesday 16th August 2023, a pilot from Qatar Airways passed away, succumbing to a heart attack on board, while flying from Delhi-Doha. The flight had to make an unscheduled stop at Dubai.

On 14.08.2023 a pilot identified as Mr Ivan Andaur, aged 56, of LATAM Airways, collapsed in the aircraft washroom and died while on a Miami-Santiago (Chile) flight, carrying 271 passengers. He was pronounced dead at Panama city after the plane made an emergency landing there owing to such a tragedy happening.

So many consecutive, sudden deaths of pilots are all the more glaring when we are already discussing about middle aged gents and heart attacks in a separate thread.

I think even in my older and more recent memories, such incidents of three sudden deaths of pilots in just three days had never, ever happened.

The link:-

https://www.news18.com/amp/india/ind...ource=inshorts

[aviator1101]

Pilots are supposed to be the fittest of people around. Are the civil airlines pilots not supposed to be undergoing stringent DGCA Class 1 medical certification every year? And in case of above 40, it's probably every six months.

And yet, such incidents. Quite bizzare, I must say.

My heart goes out to the families but just imagine such incidents happening in flight. What a catastrophic impact it would have on the rest of the crew and passengers.

Very sad indeed.

[WorkingGuru]

Heart attacks can happen to anyone. There has been a huge amount of discussion across various YouTube channels by notable experts.

The aviation industry must have literally a million pilots on payroll & a lakh pilots on active duty everyday. In that context, if 3 people happened to have a heart attack, then before speculating any inferences we must reconsider if we're reading too much into stray incidents.

There are notable industry personalities & experts on Team-BHP who would surely raise their concerns if they found any anomaly, especially if it's related to health & safety.

[condor]

Any chance would this be connected to Pfizer's anti-Covid vax ? Have come across a few articles on this angle in people from the western countries due to taking that vax.

[GutsyGibbon]

Originally Posted by WorkingGuru

The aviation industry must have literally a million pilots on payroll & a lakh pilots on active duty everyday. In that context, if 3 people happened to have a heart attack, then before speculating any inferences we must reconsider if we're reading too much into stray incidents.

These incidents are separated by thousands of miles. Ivan was flying from Miami to Chile. In the US, FAA requires health examination at intervals of 6 months to 5 years, based on age. One can imagine a pilot's health going south after some personal events. According to International Civil Aviation Organization there are 5 Lakh airline pilots. So, 3 of them dying in 3 days should not really be news. But, it could have been a slow news day for some lazy reporter.

[anjan_c2007]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

On 14.08.2023 a pilot identified as Mr Ivan Andaur, aged 56, of LATAM Airways, collapsed in the aircraft washroom and died while on a Miami-Santiago (Chile) flight, carrying 271 passengers. He was pronounced dead at Panama city after the plane made an emergency landing there owing to such a tragedy happening.

Yes, the total number of pilots all across the world are "n X 10K" or rather any figure. But the shocking point made in the OP is that of the three, two died while on board and the third just prior to taking up his duties in the cockpit. They were all on duty. All the deaths were due to cardiac arrests. The incidents are unprecedented and a shock for the aviation industry and also for we observers.

Maybe these were all coincidental and fortuitous tragedies that happened in rapid succession.

More about the LATAM Airways pilot:-

http://www.businesstoday.in/latest/t...529-2023-08-17

He was a biker too, as is evident from the image in the link.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

.
So many consecutive, sudden deaths of pilots are all the more glaring when we are already discussing about middle aged gents and heart attacks in a separate thread.

Pilots at some point in time become middle aged and depending on regulations could be flying up to 65-67 years of age. So you are going to get some health issues no matter what at this size of the worldwide pilot population

Originally Posted by aviator1101

Pilots are supposed to be the fittest of people around.
What a catastrophic impact it would have on the rest of the crew and passengers.

Very sad indeed.

Obviously very sad. Pilots have to pass pretty strict medical exams. How often and how strict depends on the type of operation they fly, but big commercial aviation typically requires a so called medical class one certificate. Although it is a thorough test, it can’t catch everything. Look at your average US pilot and you will see an obese guy! Sometimes, less frequently an obese girl.

The total pilot population is likely to be a bit fitter than the average. But that doesn’t mean there will be (very unfortunate) incidents like this. Cardiac arrest can happen due to all sorts of reason. Some can not be diagnosed up front.

Not to worry any nervous flyers anymore, but pilot medical exams are primarily physical exams. There are no real mental state of mind checks or tests done! At least not when I was still an active pilot.

Originally Posted by condor

Any chance would this be connected to Pfizer's anti-Covid vax ? Have come across a few articles on this angle in people from the western countries due to taking that vax.

Absolutely, this is well documented and scientific validated pilot killer Pfizer variant?? Come on, are we even serious?

Originally Posted by GutsyGibbon

These incidents are separated by thousands of miles. Ivan was flying from Miami to Chile. In the US, FAA requires health examination at intervals of 6 months to 5 years, based on age. One can imagine a pilot's health going south after some personal events. According to International Civil Aviation Organization there are 5 Lakh airline pilots. So, 3 of them dying in 3 days should not really be news. But, it could have been a slow news day for some lazy reporter.

Agree 100%

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

. The incidents are unprecedented and a shock for the aviation industry and also for we observers.
.

No, it doesn’t surprise anybody in the industry. I don’t want to upset you or other member whom might be anxious flyers. Go to the AVHerald site and search for pilot incapacitated. You will be surprised how often it happens in flight.

When this happens during flight, there is no reason to panic. Planes have two pilots up front, sometimes even a third pilot for rotation duty.

Any of them would be fully qualified in handling the plane by themselves. They are likely to declare an emergency so they get priority landing. Some airlines also have a policy where they will make an announcement on the PA system to ask passengers if there are pilots on the flight. Especially in the US, it is often the case. And you will have a little news item stating that passengers pilot so and so, helped land the plane he/she was flying as a passenger due to the captain or co pilot being incapacitated.

So no news, no statistical anomaly, no hidden agenda of authorities or doctored vaccines. This is just how the world runs.

Just some information on the medical class one requirements and it’s test:

https://flyosm.com/blog/medical-requ...ts-what-gives/

Jeroen

[McLaren Rulez]

1. There are around 350,000 pilots in the world. (Source: https://aviationvector.com/how-many-...-in-the-world/)

2. The US sees around 1000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests each day, of which almost all are fatal. Given a population of 330 million, that's a 1/330,000 chance of cardiac arrest. (Source: https://www.sca-aware.org/about-sudd...est-statistics)

That gives you an expected rate of around 1 pilot suffering and dying from a cardiac arrest per day! In fact, there are almost certainly three day periods where you'll see more than three pilots die of cardiac arrest.

Yes, the math is extremely crude, we didn't account for age-specific stats, the US population is not the most representative sample, etc. But broadly, it's just a headline that makes a completely normal event seem abnormal. It has nothing to do with them being pilots.

[Mystic]

When one sees in the internet for the most stressful jobs , Pilot job is not in top 5. The job of a pilot is under the top 5 glamorous jobs. This is not to belittle a Pilot job. All jobs are important and it is just a perception of the human mind. We see in a lot of news bulletins of locomotive drivers and bus drivers collapsing during driving. In a way a driver is responsible for the lives of hundreds of passengers and hence the scrutiny and discussion.

Many of you must have noticed big boards on major factories on the number of accidents in the premises. I still remember during my presence in a nuclear reactor, we had daily briefing at 7 am and attendance is mandatory on accidents in the plant however small it is . This number is being monitored very closely and if it exceeds a predefined number. there is a possibility of plant shutdown. In the nuclear world, everyone knows the consequences of an incident.

In this case 3 incidents of pilot Heart attacks across world within one week is definitely a medium concern and needs to be investigated scientifically and find the root cause if any. We as humans need to learn from our mistakes and I remember on how it is strictly implemented for a 3 point contact when ascending or descending by ladder or steps with in a plant.

Coming back to heart attacks in drivers in general and pilots in particular needs to be monitored closely as the lives of hundred of passengers are involved. There is nothing anybody can do for the timing of death of an individual on duty but definitely we can do is use technology as a backup just in case of an incident. I already see this technology is at a very great level especially for airlines with auto pilot features etc.

[condor]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Absolutely, this is well documented and scientific validated pilot killer Pfizer variant?? Come on, are we even serious?

Will Pfizer or any company ever admit that their product has caused many casualties ? Even Pfizer has related data/reports internally about the effects and numbers.

For quite some time now there have been many many reports about young healthy adults dropping dead. Including athletes.
Go back and check reports about some govt being asked to provide indemnity and more for using the vaccine. And how pfizer refused to do a double blind test in India before they get any permission to sell here.

More recently, reports from western countries have said that there were no messenger-RNA vaccines, but modified-RNA vaccines. (Knowledgeable folks who know the difference can elaborate better than me on the effects due to this).

Another study wrote about changes in blood structure and how blood had thinned, and this was noticed in those who were vaccinated.

Basically, the negative effects will not get too much publicity. Btw, Tucker Carlson's recently was talking about "how Pharma bought so many govts".

[sandeepmohan]

Sad.

While there is no evidence to any of those, its almost a given that odd working hours, insufficient sleep, working different shifts eventually takes a toll on the human body.

[VaibhaoT]

Really saddened by the news.

Another thing to notice is that flight was delayed by just 14 minutes. So I believe airline managed to find a replacement pilot in short notice. Nagpur is not a very busy airport. So I assume they might not have been able to change full crew. Just wondering if the crew was in correct state of mind as one their collogues had just collapsed at the gate. Factors like performance pressure & being on time must be putting lot of pressure even if crew is very well "rested".

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/stor...603-2023-08-17

[neerajku]

The number of deaths due to heart attack has increased in the last two years. We get to know that of celebrities, those dying abruptly, in functions, at work, playing, exercising, young people. If that is fraction of what we see of ordinary people dying others, 50-60+ or 70+ we dont know those people except in friends and family; nearly an epidemic. May be covid has damaged the heart, only research can tell. Or is it the vaccine. Only time will tell.

[thanixravindran]

I see a huge post covid resurgence in Air travel across the world. It is significant in India also with even domestic flights running round the clock and domestic airports brimming with people at midnight.

Though Pilots and cabin crew have stipulated flying hours, will the elevated work pressure and continous night operations may also be a factor?

Hope airlines and airport operators look for the health of the ground operation employees also.