Harry Reid Airport Flight Forced to Return to Las Vegas After Pilot Falls Ill Midair

Posted on: March 23, 2023, 05:33h. 

Last updated on: March 24, 2023, 01:50h.

Ed Silverstein Read More

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An off-duty pilot flying as a passenger on a Southwest Airlines flight assisted in landing a plane in Las Vegas after a regular pilot fell ill on Wednesday.

The Southwest plane had left Harry Reid International Airport early morning and was heading to Columbus, Ohio. At 6:33 a.m., a pilot suffered a medical emergency that included stomach pain and fainting, ABC News reported.

During the flight, someone told ground crew over the radio the pilot was stricken and “became incapacitated,” a monitored radio transmission from the plane revealed.

He is in the back of the aircraft right now with the flight attendants. But we need to get him on an ambulance immediately,” the flight crew announced in a radio broadcast, according to ABC.

A nurse on the flight helped to treat the ill pilot.

He was transported to a hospital upon landing in Las Vegas. His condition as of Thursday wasn’t immediately available. It’s unclear what caused his illness.

Off-Duty Pilot Saves Day

With the help of the unnamed off-duty pilot, the plane landed at Harry Reid Airport. That pilot worked for a different airline. The flight landed in Las Vegas safely at about 8 a.m. It was identified as Southwest Flight 6013.

The pilot reportedly entered the cockpit and assisted with radio communications while a second Southwest pilot flew the plane, the report said.

The Southwest plane was in the air for about 1 hour and 17 minutes, CNN reported citing data from FlightAware.com. The plane flew over southern Utah, north of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, before it was forced to return and land in Las Vegas, the Independent reported.

After landing, Southwest put on a different flight crew to fly the passengers later on Wednesday to Columbus, where the plane landed safely at John Glenn Columbus International Airport.

The Federal Aviation Administration launched an investigation into the incident.

Fifth Incapacitated Pilot

Wednesday’s incident marks the “fifth pilot incapacitation that I’m aware of in the past two weeks,” Josh Yoder, an airline pilot, said in a Twitter post on Wednesday.

If the off-duty pilot wasn’t on the plane, a flight attendant reportedly could have assisted in the cockpit while the second pilot flew the plane.

“We commend the crew for their professionalism and appreciate our customers’ patience and understanding regarding the situation,” Southwest Airlines said in a statement quoted by Las Vegas TV station KVVU.