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A medical incident in the cockpit of a Qantas 737-800 this week shows the importance of having two pilots in the cockpit, the Qantas pilots’ union says.
The captain of QF505, which was operating from Brisbane to Sydney aboard VH-VXI (pictured), experienced chest pains en route and requested a defibrillator, which was ultimately not used. The aircraft declared a medical PAN call and safely touched down in Sydney after being given a priority landing.
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“The other pilot was operating the aircraft at the time and landed the aircraft into Sydney as normal,” a Qantas spokesperson said.
“The pilot was treated by paramedics at the gate and transferred to hospital.”
In a statement, the Australian and International Pilots’ Association (AIPA) told Australian Aviation that the incident highlights the risks of any potential move to single-pilot or reduced-crew flights.
“AIPA has long advocated around the critical importance of having two pilots on the flight deck and QF505 is just the latest in a long line of incidents that illustrates the point,” Captain Andrew Mitchell, the union’s president, said.
“There will always be pressure from sections of the industry to achieve savings by switching to a single pilot, but the worst-case scenarios just don’t bear thinking about.
“If a pilot is incapacitated for any reason, passengers should not have to entrust their lives to an AI system.”
Airlines including Lufthansa and Cathay Pacific have in recent years been looking into reduced-pilot operations, with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) also examining the regulatory changes that would be necessary.
The idea has been fiercely opposed by pilots’ unions worldwide, citing safety reasons. The International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations said: “an aggressive corporate-led lobbying campaign was targeting regulators around the world” to push for single-pilot flights.
In a press release for World Pilots’ Day last year, Captain Tony Lucas, then-AIPA president, pointed to flight emergencies where “professionalism, skill and cooperation of multiple pilots working together avoided catastrophe and saved lives”.
“The only safe way to fly is with at least two well-trained and well-rested pilots at the controls at all times,” he said.
“Those promoting single-pilot operations do not spend their lives flying aeroplanes. When things go wrong at 35,000 ft and 950 km/h, they go wrong very quickly.
“Airlines and manufacturers should put passenger safety first and abandon the push for reduced crew and single pilot operations.”
The AIPA in 2023 released a Redbridge poll of 1,022 adults showing that 89 per cent would feel less safe boarding a flight with only a single pilot at the controls. 65 per cent said they would feel “much less safe”, and 24 per cent “a little less safe”.
Former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce in 2022 told media that the Flying Kangaroo was not interested in switching to single-pilot operations, pointing to the heroic actions of Captain Richard de Crespigny and his flight crew when an A380 engine exploded shortly after take-off in November 2010.
“We had five amazing pilots in the cockpit, and without that, I don’t think that aircraft would have landed safely,” Joyce said.
“We know that, and we’re very conscious of it.”
