Passengers terrified as easyJet flight makes ‘rough and scary’ emergency landing after pilot falls ill

An easyJet flight to Manchester was forced to divert to Athens after one of the pilots reportedly collapsed during the flight, leading to passenger panic as the plane made an emergency landing.

Flight EZY2252 departed Hurghada, Egypt, on Saturday 8 February at 10.14pm for a journey to Manchester that usually takes around six hours.

Approximately two hours and 15 minutes into the journey, flight tracking data from FlightAware shows the Airbus A320 started to circle an area near Athens airport in Greece for around half an hour before landing at 1.17am.

The plane decided to make an emergency landing after the flight’s captain needed medical assistance, leaving it to the first officer to land the plane safely. The flight was met with paramedics on arrival in Athens.

One passenger recalled the moment around two hours into the flight when they realised something was wrong.

They told the Manchester Evening News that cabin crew had been serving drinks when they saw them suddenly rush to the front of the plane where a man had collapsed.

While easyJet did confirm that the pilot needed medical assistance, the airline did not say if he collapsed.

"At first we thought this may have been a passenger as nothing much was being said other than the screams asking if anyone is medically trained, where a few passengers got up and assisted the cabin crew,” the unnamed passenger told the outlet, adding that a screen was pulled across the front.

"The following call was from the cabin crew to advise this was the captain/pilot who was seeking medical attention and has fell unwell and we again would be further updated with what was going to happen," the passenger added.

"At this point, the passengers were starting to get rather worried and anxious including myself knowing that it was a pilot and not the passenger."

Passengers were then informed that they would need to make an emergency landing.

"The ride began to get very rough and scary and as we approached the runway we were welcomed with lots of emergency services such as fire engines, police, and ambulances all lined along the runway,” they said.

The passenger recalled that they “started to panic thinking it was the end” during the “rocky and rough” landing.

Other passengers also started to panic, with one person having a panic attack and needing an oxygen mask to help them through.

However, once the plane landed, passengers and crew gave a “very big well done” to the co-pilot for safely landing the plane.

"I'm just so glad we had fantastic cabin crew on board and the co-pilot landed us safely,” the passenger told the news outlet.

A spokesperson for easyJet told The Independent: “easyJet can confirm that flight EZY2252 from Hurghada to Manchester yesterday evening was diverted to Athens due to the Captain requiring medical assistance.

“The First Officer performed a routine landing in accordance with standard operating procedures and the aircraft was met by paramedics on arrival in Athens.

“As a result, the onward flight was delayed overnight and passengers will continue their journey to Manchester the next day.

“We did all possible to minimise the impact of the disruption and arranged hotel rooms and meals where available.

“We would like to apologise to passengers for the inconvenience caused and thank them for their patience and understanding.”

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