The pilot thought that the flight instructor who died during the flight was pretending to take a nap

The pilot whose flight instructor died after takeoff, thinking he was “just pretending to take a nap”, according to a report from the British Air Accidents Investigation Unit.

On June 29, a 57-year-old instructor and licensed commercial pilot suffered a “sudden fatal heart attack” while flying with a qualified co-pilot in Lancashire, England.

The duo planned to fly a Piper PA-28-161 from Blackpool Airport to another airfield.

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However, shortly after takeoff, the pilot remembered how the instructor’s head was thrown back. The report says that at first the co-pilot thought the instructor was “just joking” and continued flying.

“Pilot knew the instructor well and thought he was just pretending to take a nap while the pilot was flying in circles, so he didn’t think anything was wrong at that stage.”

Eventually, the instructor “hunched over” with his head resting on the pilot’s shoulder as he continued to fly.

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“The pilot still thought the instructor was just joking with him and continued flying,” the report said.

After landing, the pilot realized that something was wrong when the instructor was still lying on his shoulder and “did not react.”

Fire and ambulance medical teams tried to resuscitate him, but officials said he “remained unconscious.”

It was found that the instructor died of acute heart failure. The report showed that the 57-year-old man had a history of high blood pressure and had been on medication for it since 2002.

However, in February 2022, just four months before the incident, he underwent a medical examination.

In addition, people who spoke to the instructor the morning before the flight said he was “a normal cheerful person” and that “there are no signs that he is unwell,” the report said.

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He even flew in with three people for a trial lesson in the morning.

The instructor was a full-time chief flight instructor with a total of 8,876 flight hours.

According to the report, officials plan to look into the circumstances of the incident to determine if anything can be learned or if any changes should be made to current guidance.

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