At the start of the week, a tragedy occurred aboard a flight from Miami to Santiago in Chile — a pilot who had been flying for 25 years suddenly felt ill and died aboard the plane.
The Chile-based LATAM Airlines (LTMAQ) -) confirmed to multiple outlets that the pilot of the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner (BA) -) suffered a "medical emergency" that forced two other co-pilots to take control of the flight and divert it to Panama Tocumen International Airport. While the flight was diverted and landed successfully, Pilot Iván Andaur was confirmed dead upon arrival.
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"LATAM Group is deeply saddened by this event and takes this opportunity to express our most sincere condolences to the family of our employee," the airline said in a statement. "We are thankful for his 25 years of service to LATAM, distinguished by his dedication, professionalism and enthusiasm."
'Medical emergency' causes pilot death, emergency plane diversion
Flight LA505 had been carrying 271 passengers and left Miami International Airport at 10 p.m. on Monday, August 14. Later reports also showed that it spent more than 12 hours in Panama before continuing on to Chile.
Due to privacy for the pilot's family, the airline has been minimal in releasing details around the situation. It had initially only confirmed that a "medical emergency for one of the three members of the command crew" had occurred. Andaur reportedly started feeling unwell approximately two hours into what was supposed to be an eight-hour flight.
The airline also said that first responders who entered the plane in Panama tried to provide "life-saving help" but were unable to save Andaur's life.
"LATAM Airlines Group reports that flight LA505 yesterday, which was on the Miami-Santiago route, had to land at the Tocumen International Airport in Panama due to a medical emergency for one of the three members of the command crew," Latam Airtlines said in an earlier statement. "When the plane landed, emergency services provided life-saving help, but the pilot sadly passed away."
Tributes and condolences from others in the industry start pouring in
The incident immediately sent shockwaves through the aviation community and many from the industry wrote tributes to Andaur on social media.
"I have a giant lump in my throat," Paula Mandini, a captain with fellow Chilean air carrier Sky Airline, wrote in a Facebook post. "I only hope that you are with your Vero and from heaven you give strength to your daughter. Fly high."
The shock was magnified by the fact that the death of a pilot mid-flight is an extremely rare occurrence in the industry. In August 2022, a Jet2 (DRTGF) -) flight traveling to Turkey from England's Birmingham had to make an emergency landing in Greece after one of the two pilots fainted during a bout of turbulence.
The pilot was later medically examined and reported safe. A similar incident in which a plane had to be diverted but the pilot was later found safe occurred during a Southwest Airlines (LUV) -) flight from Las Vegas to Columbus, Ohio.
Due to the potential risks around having such situations occur during a flight, most countries have guidelines requiring pilots to go through annual medical tests — in the U.S., this goes up to once every six months for pilots who are older than 40.
