Pilot Passes Out Mid-Flight, Plane Makes Emergency Landing In Portland

An Alaska Airlines pilot passed out mid-flight on Thursday night while traveling from Los Angeles to Seattle. The co-pilot took control of the plane “somewhere over Oregon” and made an emergency landing in Portland.

According to the Weather Channel, the pilot lost consciousness halfway through the flight. The unidentified pilot eventually woke up but was too sick to fly the plane. A doctor that was on board the plane take care of the pilot while the co-pilot landed the Boeing 737-7000 in Portland.

The pilot was removed from the plane and taken to the hospital.

No one was injured in the incident. It is unclear what happened to the pilot.

Spokesman Paul McElvoy said that a similar incident occurred on January 22 when a co-pilot briefly passed out on a trip from Seattle to Las Vegas. McElvoy said that he did “not believe there was a connection between the two incidents.”

McElvoy believes that the most recent incident was related to food poisoning.

McElroy said, “Doctors suspect he became ill due to food-poisoning or the flu virus.”

McElvoy said that all Alaska Airline co-pilots are trained to fly without any assistance. The spokesman also said that the pilot had been working with the airline for 28 years and was current on all of his medical evaluations.