Pilot continued flying plane over Blackpool after thinking co-pilot who died in cockpit was joking

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said the pilot thought his colleague, a flying instructor who he knew well, was pretending to be asleep during the incident over Blackpool on June 29 last year.

Shortly after taking off, the 57-year-old instructor’s head rolled back as he suffered a sudden and fatal heart attack, but the pilot continued to fly.

After the pilot landed the Piper PA-28-161 plane, the instructor was still resting on his shoulder not responding, so the pilot knew something was wrong.

Before the short journey around Blackpool Airport, a second pilot had been requested for safety reasons due to windy weather, and the instructor agreed to join the flight.

While the plane was still on the ground, the instructor was talking normally with the pilot, the AAIB said.

The report added he had been his “normal cheerful self and there were no indications that he was feeling unwell”.

It went on: “The pilot recalled that shortly after take-off from Runway 28 the instructor’s head rolled back.

“The pilot knew the instructor well and thought he was just pretending to take a nap whilst the pilot flew the circuit, so he did not think anything was wrong at this stage.

“He proceeded to fly the aircraft round the circuit. As he turned on to base leg the instructor slumped over with his head resting on the pilot’s shoulder.

“The pilot still thought the instructor was just joking with him and continued to fly the approach.”

The post-mortem examination concluded that the instructor, who had passed a medical four months earlier, died from acute cardiac failure.

The AAIB report said current medical assessments were acceptable but risks “can never be reduced to zero”.

It investigated the incident so lessons could be learned.

Its analysis said: “On this occasion he was flying with a qualified pilot who was able to land the aircraft safely.

“However, had this occurred on another flight the outcome could have been different.”