Envoy Air, a regional carrier and subsidiary of American Airlines, confirmed Tuesday that a pilot who suffered a medical emergency during a flight has died. The flight departed Chicago O’Hare International Airport on Saturday and returned shortly after takeoff due to the captain reportedly being incapacitated.
Crisis in air
While Envoy has not commented on the cause of the medical emergency, Captain Ric Wilson, Vice President of Flight Operations at the airline, said in a message to employees that the pilot was a captain in training.
The carrier said in a statement,
“Despite heroic efforts by those on board and first responders on the ground, our colleague passed away at the hospital. We’re deeply saddened and are doing all we can to support his family and our colleagues at this time.”
The incident played out
Envoy Air flight 3556 was bound for John Glenn Columbus International Airport and operated by N269NN, an Embraer E175. According to data from Flight Aware, the plane departed on runway 28R and flew on a path north of the airport before turning back towards the airport to land.
According to Aero Insider, the pilot in the right-hand seat reported to air traffic controllers (ATC) that the captain was incapacitated and that they needed to return to O’Hare at around 5,000 feet.
According to an archive of audio recordings on ATCLive, another pilot can be heard informing ATC of the incident.
“We need to return. Captain is incapacitated... he’s knocked out. We’re going to need paramedics.”
ATC then advised the pilot to start descending and to reposition the aircraft for arrival on runway 28C. On the ground, the pilot informed ATC that he would be able to get the plane off the runway onto a taxiway, but would need to stop again to move the captain off his seat in order to get the aircraft to gate L23.
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When asked about paramedics, the pilot indicated that emergency responders should proceed to meet the plane at the gate, but he was unsure about the process of assisting the captain.
“We’re gonna go to the gate, but I don’t know how we would get him out."
Wilson admired the captain in command in a statement.
“Sincere thanks to Line Check Airman, Captain Brandon Hendrickson, for his leadership and professionalism in the safe handling of his aircraft, passengers and crew,” Wilson said.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is now investigating the incident. Aviation sources believe the captain in training died of a heart attack, but officials have not confirmed the cause of death. Fifty-seven passengers and crew were onboard.
In-flight medical emergencies
Medical emergencies during flights are uncommon but can happen. One in every 600 commercial flights will have some kind of medical encounter, according to a study from the New England Journal of Medicine. The most common types of emergency include nausea, fainting, and respiratory problems.
Fatal medical emergencies are extremely rare. The study concluded that among all passengers who had experienced a medical emergency in flight, less than 1% proved to be fatal.
Sources: CNBC, Aero Insider, BNO News