Pilot taken ill - landing at Athens

[G-CPTN]

A British charter plane carrying 180 passengers has made an unscheduled landing at Athens airport after the pilot suffered a stroke.
http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1224517,00.html?f=dta

[Nov71]

The link above (Sky news) reports it as a Monarch 757 Luxor to Man

[Rick Storm]

Latest...........

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5073986.stm

[Nov71]

Ceefax cited AFP as the source, AFP website read -

A British charter plane has made an unscheduled landing at Athens airport after the pilot reportedly suffered a stroke. The Monarch Air flight from Luxor in Egypt to Manchester was carrying 180 passengers. Airport authorities said the plane's co-pilot had signalled the pilot was unwell and asked for an emergency stop in Greece.
The Boeing 757 landed without incident and all passengers are said to be safe.


So Ceefax re-write 'lost something in translation'?

[PAXboy]

The BBC story (referenced above) states:The Monarch spokeswoman said: "They landed safely and everything was fine and he [the pilot] actually walked off the aircraft and is with paramedics now." That does not mean that he did not have a stroke. The degree of effect from a stroke is extremely wide. Whilst we always think of the classic half-side paralysis, there are many who can still walk and talk and it takes a scan of the brain and other tests before diagnosis, which can take several days. Of course, if the pilot was able to walk that is all to the good.

[Mac the Knife]

The way things seem to be going in your business these days I'm surprised they didn't assume he was pissed and breathalyse him.:suspect:

[aegean]

Apparently the plane left Athens shortly after 06:30 local time. At least one greek source speaks about a heart-related incident - hope it's nothing serious.

Slightly off topic, but i wonder: how the logistics of such an incident are typically handled? (standby crew, how to dispatch them, local arrangements for crew and passengers, etc).

[qwertyuiop]

I think this incident will come down to fatigue. Days spent on longhaul in the states followed by the awful and outrageous level 2 flights certain charter companies enforce on their crews.

Any journos out there? Ask the company for details of the pilots shift or working patterns.

[AlphaWhiskyRomeo]

Apparently the plane left Athens shortly after 06:30 local time. At least one greek source speaks about a heart-related incident - hope it's nothing serious.
Slightly off topic, but i wonder: how the logistics of such an incident are typically handled? (standby crew, how to dispatch them, local arrangements for crew and passengers, etc).



Looked to me like they sent an A321 down to Athens purely to ferry the new crew down there (and maybe to grab the old crew) as both the A321 (on a "P" flight number) and the 757 both flew back to MAN very soon after.

[hapzim]

Nice having a shiny Bus as crew transport, wish it was ava all the time beats the M25/M6 battle. Good to see the company pulling out all the stops to overcome the problem.:D

[SHTTKR]

I think this incident will come down to fatigue. Days spent on longhaul in the states followed by the awful and outrageous level 2 flights certain charter companies enforce on their crews.
Any journos out there? Ask the company for details of the pilots shift or working patterns.
Before you blame fatigue , it might be worth checking out the Brown Book with regards to Level2 Ops .
I hope its nothing too serious , and the Pilot is well soon
Shttkr

[Blighty Pilot]

I think this incident will come down to fatigue.
Any journos out there? Ask the company for details of the pilots shift or working patterns.
:hmm: Do you have any evidence to support this??? If so fair enough. Why go down the route of wanting to get journo's involved? I have a certain dislike to journ's as they tend to twist words and make mountains out of mole hills.
If you have any concerns with crewing or rostering why don't you bring the up with the relevant people at work such as your fleet manager. Bad mouthing the company on such a public forum is hardly professional (we are supposed to be professionals!!!!!).
If you don't like the way things are run there are plenty of other options out there at the moment.
Sorry if this seems to be a bit of a RANT and I'm not saying PUT UP OR SHUT UP, but I do urge people that have problems to address them in the professional manner in which we are trained to do so.
My thoughts are with the Captain concerned, well done to the crew that diverted into Athens and a well done to crewing and Ops for organising the rescue mission.

[RoyHudd]

CM1 probably exhausted, but no surprise. Analyse the hours and times required, and get a medic to review. Better-paid Slave Labour. Much more skillful and demanding than engineers, cabin crew food servers and the rest.End-result...costly problem and risk to a human being, and poss. many others.

[mondriver]

Typical media hype.

No stroke....no drama.

Yes, he's ill...but it's likely due to the salmon sandwich on the outbound.

[Mr Angry from Purley]

quert

For the sake of the un-educated will you be explaining a level 2 variation, to include the pre and post rest requirements. Enforced ?, the variation has been en force for many years, and used by charter operators to get to destinations further afield. If it was an EU airline they would have the hours to operate without any variation so whats your beef?. He could have been ill ferying an aircraft from LTN to LGW??? :\

[cornwallis]

He would not have been ill on a ferry flight from Lgw to Ltn or vv as there would have been no crew food!There would also have been no cabin crew to assist!!!

[thetexpat]

FACT: Aircraft, engines, etc., suffer some form of failure!
FACT:Humans are more suseptable to failure (A more complex entity!)!
REALIITY:IT HAPPENS!
Good on MONARCH AIRLINES for knowing who pays them and, in turn, treating them accordingly!
FACT:It's sad that some other airlines don't look after 'them that pays'!
BTY, 'them that pays' pays your salaries, etc!
thetexpat
P.S. been in the business since the Wright Brothers! Even worked EGGW many years (decades?!) ago!
P.P.S. MONARCH may have lost money with this operation; what they made was 'oodles' of CUSTOMER SATISFACTION and GOODWILL (Crews included I trust!)!

[OpsSix]

P.P.S. MONARCH may have lost money with this operation; what they made was 'oodles' of CUSTOMER SATISFACTION and GOODWILL (Crews included I trust!)!

Apart from the 2x pax that refused to travel back with MON, offloaded themselves and flew back with Olympic instead. Must have been made of money ;)

[Slamitin]

qwertyuiop,

I suggest you consult the master roster before you band about terms such as "fatigue".

Said Captain had just returned from a weeks leave followed by 3 Rostered Days Off. In addition to the weeks leave the rest of the month included 13 Rostered Days Off with 5 Rostered Flights of which this one was a Level 2 operation. Hardly fatigue inducing in my humble opinion.

[hapzim]

It was the shock of working :) must remember to do less :D