In the UK, the pilot of a light aircraft did not learn about the cardiac arrest of his partner, which happened during the flight, only after landing. All the time of the flight, the man thought that his colleague was playing a prank on him and pretending to be asleep, reports Dailymail.
The publication notes that the tragedy occurred in June 2022, but received wide publicity only now.
The pilot, along with a colleague, a 57-year-old instructor, took off on a four-seat Piper PA-28-161 aircraft from the small Blackpool International Airport northwest of Great Britain—no signs of trouble.
“On the morning of that fateful day, the instructor was in his usual high spirits. According to the pilot, immediately after takeoff, the colleague’s head fell back – the man took his partner’s death as a joke and continued flying alone,” the tabloid reports.
According to the safety report, the men, whose names were not released, knew each other well, so it seemed true to the pilot that the comrade was pretending to be asleep. The captain of the aircraft became suspicious only when he began to land.
“The partner’s head rested on his shoulder for too long, and the main pilot considered it suspicious. The flight commander gave a signal to the airport fire department, which contacted the ambulance team,” the publication says.
Unfortunately, saving the co-pilot was impossible: the man died of acute heart failure. The investigation into the tragedy noted that the flight instructor had been taking medication for high blood pressure for many years, and four months before his death, he underwent a medical examination.
The Accident Investigation Division said it was constantly “reviewing health advice” and the case was “rare.”