All 3 British Airways Pilots Were Hit By Food Poisoning Midflight — But Kept Flying To London Anyway

All three pilots got sick on British Airways flight 276 from Hyderabad to London Heathrow. One became violently ill from the food poisoning, but they decided tha tthe Boeing 777-200ER should continue the rest of the 10.5 hour journey. Prior to departure, they had all eaten breakfast together in the lounge at their Hyderabad crew hotel. During the flight, one of the first officers became incapacitated at approximately 30,000 feet and was given oxygen. The captain and the other first officer were also experiencing symptoms, but continued to operate the aircraft. Their conditions reportedly worsened substantially after landing in London. All three pilots submitted Air Safety Reports and provided biological samples so doctors could try to determine the cause. There are reports claiming that one pilot underwent a “12-hour surgical operation.” That appears to be the story spiraling beyond anything verifiable. Pilot union sources say there had been “dozens” of previous hygiene complaints concerning the unidentified hotel. BA, however, characterizes this as “some isolated reports of sickness.” Crews have now been moved to alternative Hyderabad accommodation. A three-pilot long haul crew isn’t three pilots at the controls. The third pilot permits rest on an extended duty flight. After one first officer became incapacitated, they still had the required complement of captain and first officer for the remainder of the flight. The real concern (aside from concern for the incapacitated pilot!) is that both remaining pilots were also symptomatic. Cockpit crew aren’t permitted to perform duties when sickness makes them unfit or when they doubt their ability to perform them. The commander is responsible for deciding what action is necessary for safety. Whether continuing to Heathrow was at the captain’s discretion and would be based on severity, location, medical advice and available diversion airports. U.K. pilots are apparently still frequently encouraged to eat different meals so that one contaminated entree does not incapacitate both. But that usually involves meals eaten aboard. (Or at least they were before the pandemic.) Here, the entire crew allegedly shared a hotel breakfast. On March 5, 1980 Trans American flight 209 from Los Angeles made a miraculous landing in Chicago after the pilot Captain Clarence Ovuer and First Officer Roger Murdock suffered incapacitation due to food poisoning during the flight. They had eaten the fish. One of the flight attendants, Elaine Dickinson, managed to activate the aircraft’s auto pilot while a passenger on the flight, Ted Stryker, took the controls. Stryker had been a military fighter pilot flying attack missions over Macho Grande. As One Mile at a Time points out, this British Airways incident was Airplane! without Ted Striker. The movie’s premise is that the flight crew and fish-eating passengers become incapacitated, leaving former fighter pilot Ted Striker to take over. But he’ll never be over Macho Grande. Airplane! was itself a parody of the 1957 drama Zero Hour!, whose plot also involved both pilots becoming ill after choosing the same contaminated meal. So reality is now imitating a comedy that was itself closely imitating dramatic fiction. Topics on this page