Primera B738 near Billund on Nov 18th 2016, inflight meal incapacitates first officer

Last Update: January 26, 2017 / 15:45:13 GMT/Zulu time

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Incident Facts

Date of incident
Nov 18, 2016

Classification
Report

Airline
Primera Air Nordic

Flight number
PF-418

Departure
Lanzarote, Spain

Destination
Billund, Denmark

Aircraft Registration
YL-PSD

Aircraft Type
Boeing 737-800

ICAO Type Designator
B738

A Primera Air Nordic Boeing 737-800, registration YL-PSD performing flight PF-418 from Lanzarote,CI (Spain) to Billund (Denmark) with 180 passengers and 6 crew, was enroute shortly after reaching the top of climb when both flight crew were served different hot meals. The aircraft was subsequently enroute over France about 90 minutes prior to estimated arrival in Billund when the first officer (35, CPL, 3,500 hours total, 3,200 hours on type) took a controlled rest. About 10 minutes into the rest the first officer began to feel unwell and another 5 minutes later rushed off to the toilet, without prior warning to the captain (35, ATPL, 6,180 hours total, 5,800 hours on type), where she vomitted. The captain called the purser to the cockpit and asked cabin crew to look after the first officer. When the first officer returned to the cockpit, the situation was discussed, the captain decided to continue the flight to Billund in single pilot operation reasoning that it was only 15 minutes to the top of descent at that point. The first officer took her seat, which was reclined backwards as far as possible, for the remainder of the flight acting as observer. The aircraft landed safely in Billund.

Denmark's Havarikomissionen (HCL) released their final report concluding the probable causes into the serious incident were:

Food poisoning most likely led to incapacitation of the first officer.

The HCL reported that the first officer was diagnosed with food poisoning and continued to vomit until about 4am the following day. The symptoms were similiar to an earlier case of food poisoning the first officer had endured 20 years earlier. The HCL wrote: "A chef subsequently informed the first officer that a part of her flight crew meal (cabbage stew) most likely was the source of the food poisoning. Because the cabbage grows in contact with soil, and since it most likely was only heated and not cooked during preparation, live microbiological bacteria might have been present in the hot meal. Nausea and repeated vomiting were typical reactions to food poisoning. The catering company, which prepared the hot meal, delivered seven identical hot meals to four different flights on the day of the serious incident. The catering company did not receive other reports of food poisoning related to the seven hot meals."

The HCL analysed:

Due to the symptoms and reactions of the first officer, food poisoning most likely led to the incapacitation of the first officer.

Even though, the catering company did not receive other reports regarding seven identical meals, the AIB considers the cabbage stew as the most likely source of the food poisoning.

Safety effect and risk mitigation implementation

The incapacitation of the first officer reduced the number of flight crew members below the minimum required. According to the operator’s procedures, it was an emergency.

With reference to the operator’s procedures, the commander made use of available internal (other crew members/automatic flight control) and external (ATC/medical assistance upon landing) resources which,

- reduced the overall on-board workload
- kept the on-board flight safety at an acceptable level
- made the medical assistance to the first officer effective.
Incident Facts

Date of incident
Nov 18, 2016

Classification
Report

Airline
Primera Air Nordic

Flight number
PF-418

Departure
Lanzarote, Spain

Destination
Billund, Denmark

Aircraft Registration
YL-PSD

Aircraft Type
Boeing 737-800

ICAO Type Designator
B738

This article is published under license from Avherald.com. © of text by Avherald.com.
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