Lufthansa A321 near Madrid on Feb 17th 2024, first officer incapacitated while alone on flight deck

Last Update: May 15, 2025 / 16:50:38 GMT/Zulu time

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Photo of Lufthansa D-AISO, Airbus A321 — Lufthansa D-AISO, Airbus A321 (Photo credit: cvtperson / Flickr / License: CC by-sa)

Incident Facts

Date of incident
Feb 17, 2024

Classification
Incident

Airline
Lufthansa

Flight number
LH-1140

Departure
Frankfurt/Main, Germany

Destination
Seville, Spain

Aircraft Registration
D-AISO

Aircraft Type
Airbus A321

ICAO Type Designator
A321

A Lufthansa Airbus A321-200, registration D-AISO performing flight LH-1140 from Frankfurt/Main (Germany) to Seville,SP (Spain) with 199 passengers and 6 crew, was enroute at FL350 about 40nm southsouthwest of Madrid,SP (Spain) when the crew requested to urgently divert to Madrid reporting the first officer was feeling unwell. The aircraft turned around and landed safely on Madrid's runway 32L about 18 minutes later.

The aircraft remained on the ground in Madrid for about 5.5 hours then continued the journey and reached Seville with a delay of about 5.5 hours.

On Apr 11th 2024 Spain's CIAIAC reported the commander had left the cockpit, subsequently the first officer became incapacitated. The commander accessed the cockpit and decided to divert the aircraft to Madrid. The CIAIAC opened an investigation into the occurrence rated an incident.

On May 15th 2025 Spain's CIAIAC released their final report concluding the probable cause of the incident was:

The investigation has established that the cause of the co-pilot's incapacitation was the manifestation of a symptom of a condition that had not previously been detected either by the pilot himself or during the aeronautical medical examination.

The CIAIAC listed following findings:

- The co-pilot had a valid Class 1 medical certificate without limitations.

- During the cruise phase, the captain left the flight deck for physiological reasons.

- Just beforehand, the two pilots had a conversation about the weather conditions and the operation of the aircraft without the captain noticing anything unusual in the copilot's behaviour.

- The co-pilot experienced a sudden and severe incapacitation while alone on the flight deck and was unable to alert the rest of the crew to his condition.

- During his incapacitation, the co-pilot inadvertently operated switches and acted on the flight controls.

- The autopilot and autothrust system remained engaged and the flight path was maintained.

- After the captain had left the cockpit and the co-pilot suffered the sudden and severe incapacitation, the aircraft continued to fly for about 10 minutes in the cruise phase with the autopilot engaged but without additional supervision by either pilot.

- In order to gain access to the flight deck, the captain used the emergency code.

- Before the emergency access code timer expired, the co-pilot opened the flight deck door manually from the inside.

- In view of the emergency, the captain took the decision to land at the nearest airport. This allowed the co-pilot to receive medical attention as soon as possible.