A British Airways captain and co-pilot were rushed to the hospital on Thursday, October 19, after inhaling a “foul odour” and becoming ill in the cockpit during a flight to London.
The Captain and First Officer of a British Airways flight were forced to wear oxygen masks after reporting a foul odour while flying at 30,000 feet on Thursday morning.
Following contact with emergency services on the ground, the plane carrying passengers landed at Heathrow Airport after taking off from Newcastle.
The pair were rushed to the hospital after ‘passing out,’ fearing they had been exposed to toxic chemicals.
Ambulances and fire departments were dispatched to the airline’s Crew Report Centre, where the two pilots were initially evaluated after suffering ‘smoke inhalation’ in the dramatic cockpit incident.
They were then taken to the hospital for additional testing.
A source reportedly told The Sun: “This was a shocking incident. The immediate concern is obviously for the two pilots.
“But also striking is the worry about what could have happened had these two cockpit crew been intoxicated when they were still at the controls of a crowded jet at 25,000ft. It doesn’t bear thinking about.
“Investigations have started into this alarming incident.”
A British Airways spokesperson said: “The flight landed safely and customers disembarked normally following a minor technical issue with the aircraft.’
A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We were called at 10.39 am today (19 October) to reports of an incident at Terminal 5 Heathrow Airport, Hounslow.
“We sent an ambulance crew, an incident response officer and members of our hazardous area response team (HART) to the scene.
“We treated two patients at the scene for smoke inhalation and took them to a local hospital.”