A Qantas plane captain and pilot suffered chest pains while flying to Sydney from Brisbane in Australia. Hundreds of miles away from their destination, the captain requested the use defibrillator while the first officer piloted the plane and landed at Sydney Airport after requesting a priority landing.
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According to The Sydney Morning Herald, Qantas Flight QF505, a 737 aircraft, was carrying 127 passengers and six crew members. Mid-flight the plane's captain began experiencing chest pains. After the captain exited the holding pattern, the captain asked the customer service manager of the flight to use a defibrillator on him. While the equipment was not used, the pads were put on the captain while in the cockpit.
While the captain received assistance, the first officer took control and acted as the pilot of the plane. He was the one who notified air traffic controllers of the medical emergency that the captain had suffered. The first officer requested an expedited landing due to their dire situation.
Emergency Landing
A recording shared by the outlet shows the first officer in communication with one air-traffic controller.
"Tower good morning. Qantas 505 ... we are requesting a medical PAN," the first officer said. PAN stands for "possible assistance needed," as per the outlet. The air-traffic controller responded, "Qantas 505 - acknowledging PAN; continue the approach [runway] 34 right." The first officer then said, "Continue approach Qantas 505."
The Qantas plane landed at around 9 a.m. in Sydney Airport. The captain, while in the middle of his medical emergency, managed to taxi the plane to a terminal gate. Reportedly, it is not possible to taxi the aircraft while in the first officer's seat. FlightAware revealed that the total travel time of Qantas Flight QF505 was 1 hour and 50 minutes. It arrived 21 minutes late, departing from Brisbane at 6:11 a.m. local time.
After taxing the plane, the captain was met by paramedics and was later transported to a local hospital.
Qantas then issued a statement, addressing their captain's medical emergency.
"One of our pilots experienced chest pains during a flight from Brisbane to Sydney on Monday," the statement reads. "The other pilot was operating the aircraft at the time and landed the aircraft into Sydney as normal. The pilot was treated by paramedics at the gate and transferred to hospital."
