Overview
- A Jet2 Airbus A321 en route from Tenerife to Birmingham was diverted to Porto after one of the pilots became unwell, forcing an emergency descent and a landing in the early hours of Friday, May 22.
- Passengers said the first officer took control during the descent while cabin crew urgently sought medically trained travellers and emergency services boarded the aircraft on arrival to treat the pilot.
- The unwell pilot was taken to hospital and passengers remained in Porto for about 13 hours as Jet2 arranged a replacement cockpit crew and a new flight home.
- Jet2 said safety was never compromised, apologised for the disruption and flew a replacement pilot from Manchester to return the roughly 220 passengers to the UK.
- Reports from passengers and customer messages described a suspected heart attack but the precise medical diagnosis has not been independently confirmed in public reporting.