Fifth Instance of Pilot Incapacitation Since March 2023
The Pilot In Command (PIC) of a Boeing 787-9, registration CC-BGI, suffered incapacitation at the aircraft’s controls some three-hours after the wide-body jet, then operating as LATAM Airlines Flight LA505, departed Miami International Airport (MIA) bound for Santiago de Chile’s Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL).
The flight subsequently diverted to Panama City, Panama’s Tocumen International Airport (PTY), where the incapacitated pilot was pronounced dead upon the aircraft’s arrival.
LATAM Flight LA505 departed MIA on 14 August at 22:11 EDT with 271 revenue passengers aboard. While cruising at FL370 some 104-nautical-miles north of PTY, the flight’s PIC, Captain Ivan Andaur, reported feeling poorly and left the flight-deck to visit one of the aircraft’s lavatories. Captain Andaur collapsed in the lavatory, however, and emergency medical assistance was provided by cabin crew-members.
The aircraft’s Second In Command (SIC) and a relief captain traveling aboard the flight assumed control of the 787 and undertook an emergency diversion to Panama City, landing on PTY Runway 03L some 28-minutes after initiating the diversion.
LATAM set forth in a 15 August statement: “LATAM Airlines Group reports that flight LA505 yesterday, which was on the Miami-Santiago route, had to land at the Tocumen International Airport in Panama due to a medical emergency for one of the three members of the command crew. When the plane landed, emergency services provided life-saving help, but the pilot sadly passed away."
The statement continued: “We are deeply moved by what has happened, and we extend our sincere condolences to the family of our employee. We are deeply grateful for his 25-year career and his valuable contribution, which was always distinguished by his dedication and professionalism. During the flight, all the necessary safety protocols were carried out to safeguard the life of the affected pilot,”
Boeing 777-9 CC-BGI departed PTY 15 August at 17:24 CDT and arrived—much delayed—at its original SCL destination of SCL after an uneventful five-hour, 31-minute flight.
LATAM Flight LA505 occasioned the fifth incident of full or partial pilot incapacitation among scheduled air-carriers since March 2023. Chronicled linearly, Captain Andaur’s death was preceded by the 19 July incapacitation of a Eurowings Discover PIC; the June incapacitations of an Air Canada Airbus A220 SIC and an easyJet A320 PIC; and the March incapacitations of an Air Transat Airbus A321 PIC and a Southwest Airlines 737 SIC.
Investigators remain vexed by the sudden and dramatic rise in pilot incapacitations, and continue to examine potential causal factors.
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