British Airways pilot dies suddenly amid concerning trend
British Airways was forced to cancel a flight from the Caribbean to London Monday morning after its senior first officer died suddenly in his hotel.
The 47-year-old man, who was scheduled to pilot the flight, was reportedly in a “public area” of the hotel on the island of St. Lucia when he collapsed.
"This tragedy has left British Airways staff stunned and deeply upset," a source told The Sun. "The Senior First Officer was very popular and his death was completely out of the blue. He was the life and soul; a really popular guy and just 47 years old."
The news comes just weeks after Harry Allchin, a 30-year-old pilot for Qantas Airways, died suddenly on October 13th.
“Harry was a light in many people’s lives,” said Belle Henry, who is managing the family’s GoFundMe campaign. “With his trademark mullet and silver sunglasses, Harry was known for his love for travel, his mates, family and his job. The loss of Harry was very sudden and unexpected and his family are now trying to navigate through this process while dealing with their grief.”
Pilot deaths and incapacitations have increased in recent years, raising concerns about aviation safety. Though pilots undergo regular health screenings, there appear to be maladies that are going unchecked.
Earlier in October, for example, a healthy 59-year-old Turkish Airlines pilot died suddenly in mid-air while flying from Seattle to Istanbul. The airline said Captain Ilcehin Pehlivan had undergone a routine health check in March, and no complications that might affect his job had been found.
Doctors say COVID-19 shots to blame
Some observers, like Canadian physician Dr. William Makis, MD, say the experimental COVID-19 shots may be responsible for the sudden pilot deaths.
As early as December 2021 medical experts were urging the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and major airlines to medically flag all pilots who received COVID-19 mRNA injections and have them examined.
“[A]cross all populations, the inoculations are resulting in significant increases in myocarditis and subsequent heart failure, arrhythmias, cardiac arrests, and deaths,” a group of top physicians and human rights attorneys wrote in a letter to the FAA. “This is especially true in the younger male cohort, to which many pilots belong.”
The doctors warned that “should the FAA fail to ground and medically de-certify all pilots” who received the COVID-19 injections, it “will be putting many innocent airline passengers' lives in harm's way in the event a pilot loses control of his aircraft after suffering a major bloodclotting event (pulmonary embolism, stroke, etc.) or a myocarditis-related event, either of which can result in incapacitation, cardiac arrest, and death.”
The letter was signed by Dr. Peter McCullough, M.D., Dr. Ryan Cole, M.D., LTC Colonel Theresa Long, M.D., MPH, Pilot Cody Flint, and human rights attorneys.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has yet to investigate a link between pilots and COVID mRNA injections but denies there is one. "The FAA has no evidence of aircraft accidents or incapacitations caused by pilots suffering medical complications associated with Covid-19 vaccines," a spokesperson told AFP.
Private flyers demanding unvaccinated pilots
Commercial airline pilot and US Freedom Flyers co-founder Josh Yoder said last year that he receives many reports of sudden health issues among pilots.
"I can tell you my phone rings every single week, almost every day I have a pilot calling me with cardiac issues . . . or neurological dysfunction," he said.
The pilot has also received calls from private flyers requesting unvaccinated pilots to fly their jets.
“[Yoder is] getting calls now from wealthy businessmen and companies to fly their executives around on business jets with unvaccinated crew,” said Captain Alan Dana, who was terminated by JetStar after 14 years of service for refusing to comply with its vaccine mandate. “Now, they get the luxury of being able to choose, because there are still a large amount of crew available in the United States who are not vaccinated because the companies they work for didn’t mandate it.”
“These wealthy businessmen are requiring unvaccinated crew on their business trips,” Dana added. “Passengers on an airline who bought a ticket don’t have that luxury.”
