A Lufthansa flight with 205 people on board flew on autopilot for 10 minutes after the copilot fainted while he was alone in the cockpit. This was revealed in a report from Spain’s air accident investigation team.

The incident happened on February 17, 2024, during a flight from Frankfurt, Germany, to Seville, Spain. The captain had stepped out to use the bathroom when the copilot suddenly lost consciousness.

The Airbus A321 had 199 passengers and six crew members. Thanks to autopilot, the aircraft stayed steady in the sky. However, the unconscious copilot accidentally moved the controls. Sounds recorded in the cockpit showed he passed out suddenly.

Air traffic control tried to contact the cockpit three times but did not get any answer.

When the captain returned, he tried to use the normal door code, which rings a bell in the cockpit. After five tries and no reply, he used the emergency code to unlock the door and take control of the plane.

The flight crew and a doctor onboard gave the copilot first aid. He later woke up and remembered being treated but had no memory of fainting.

The flight was redirected to Madrid, where it landed safely about 20 minutes later. The copilot was taken to the hospital and released after a few hours.

Further medical checks found that the copilot had an undiagnosed neurological condition that had not been detected during his regular health exams. His flying license was suspended after this.

Lufthansa confirmed the incident and said its safety team also investigated, but the results were not made public, according to German news reports.

The Spanish investigation agency called the situation rare and said pilots are trained to handle emergencies like this. Between 2019 and 2024, there were 287 cases in Europe where a pilot became unwell during a flight.

A U.S. report from 2004 recorded 39 similar incidents involving American pilots from 1993 to 1998.