Dramatic moment Ryanair pilot 'fainted' mid-air while flying plane to Portugal

A pilot fainted while flying a Ryanair plane on Sunday, according to reports.

The aviator lost consciousness while in the cockpit of the budget airline's service from Barcelona to Porto, a source from the National Institute of Medical Emergencies told Portugal Resident. At 8:19 a.m. on Sunday, August 10, the pilot suffered “a rapidly recovering syncope” and “apparently recovered during the flight," the publication reported.

The pilot came back to consciousness and the plane continued its journey from Barcelona's El Prat Airport to Porto’s Francisco Sá Carneiro. The plane landed normally, an official source from Portugal's EKAB told the Portuguese agency Lusa. News of the incident comes at the end of a week in which baggage handlers who work on Ryanair services announced they're going on strike.

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An ambulance from the Moreira da Maia Fire Department and a medical vehicle, emergency vehicle (VMER) from the Pedro Hispano Hospital went to Sá Carneiro Airport to meet the plane. "The pilot received assistance on the spot, but refused to go to the hospital and stayed at the airport," the National Institute of Medical Emergencies said, according to Portugal Resident.

Despite the medical incident, flight data show that the only Ryanair flight that arrived this Sunday morning at Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport from Barcelona (Spain) was flight FR 4587, which arrived at 8:35 a.m. at Terminal 1, as it had been scheduled to do.

The Mirror put the claims to Ryanair's press office. A spokesperson for the airline said: “Ryanair has procedures and training in place to deal with situations where a pilot becomes unwell in flight. This flight from Barcelona to Porto (10 Aug), landed safely at Porto Airport.”

Holidaymakers going to Spain this month are facing a fresh blow as new strikes have been announced affecting major airports and airlines across parts of the country. The UGT union previously stated there will be a series of strikes affecting Ryanair's baggage handling department.

These are set to start on August 15. However, there is now increased potential for delays and flight cancellations after 1,500 workers with a second firm, Menzies, said it would hold its own industrial action, which will also start in August.

Menzies services a number of major airlines including British Airways, easyJet, Wizz Air, American Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Emirates and Norwegian. The UGT union said the strike by ground staff of the Menzies group will affect five Spanish airports, including Barcelona-El Prat, Alicante, Palma, Malaga and Tenerife South, on August 16, 17, 23, 24, 30 and 31.