Easyjet pilot has panic attack while flying

During an EasyJet flight from London Standed to Glasgow had a panic attack, leaving the pilot to land the plane on his own. The co-pilot, of first officer, was a relatively inexperienced new pilot. The panic attack led him to leaving the cockpit.

More about the incident

The incident took place on September 30th, 2018. A day before the incident the copilot had been on a flight that had difficult landing because of the wind. It was the first time that the first officer had experienced this, and he was terrified from it, which led him to losing sleep the next night. The next day the copilot stated that he felt much better and that he was fit to fly.

However, the copilot started to feel bad. He became more and more nervous. Eventually he panicked and left the cockpit of the aircraft. The captain was left to land the plane on his own, which he did with the help of air traffic control and other people from the ground.

At the time there were 148 passengers on board of the aircraft. No passengers were injured or in any way affected by the incident.

The consequences for the pilot

According to the authorities the copilot should have called in sick on the day of the incident. Also, the communication between him and the captain should have been better. The fears that he was feeling should have been talked about more. That was most likely the reason why the captain recognized the fears too late. The copilot received support and was later declared fit to fly again.