A report has recently been released about a serious safety incident that occurred on a TAROM Airlines flight, where the co-pilot collapsed after he had not slept the night beforehand. The event that occurred mid-flight in the cockpit in the skies of Europe, triggered an emergency on the service from Amsterdam to Bucharest.

On the outbound service to Amsterdam, the co-pilot had reported that he was feeling unwell, but felt that he was capable of operating the return service, and explained to the captain at the time that he would, as a precaution, not utilize the controls. However, for the return trip back to the Romanian capital, things took a turn.

The TAROM Co-Pilot Collapsed On The Return Trip

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Flying on one of the airline’s Boeing 737 aircraft, the co-pilot became more unwell around 50 minutes after take-off from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS) and about two hours, and 40 minute journey, the 57-year-old co-pilot eventually fainted. This led to the captain declaring an emergency and requesting that medical assistance meet the plane on arrival at Bucharest International Airport (OTP).

As the plane landed, ambulances met it and immediately boarded it through the front doors to provide medical assistance. While this was occurring, the 87 passengers onboard were asked to disembark using the rear stairs. It remains unclear how much detail was provided to the passengers.

In a report completed by the Civil Aviation Safety Investigation and Analysis Authority (AIAS), it came to light that the co-pilot admitted to having not slept the night before his flight to Amsterdam. According to the Observator News, Romania, the co-pilot was named Cezar Osiceanu.

New Safety Precautions Now Introduced

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With an internal and external investigation launched following the incident, the Romanian carrier introduced several additional safety precautions, which include that Osiceanu will temporarily not be permitted to perform flights without the presence of a captain, and the flight sectors he is assigned to will be no longer than two hours.

Night flights are now also off the menu, and as a third measure, the co-pilot will not be assigned to work with the other captain operating the flight at the time. The AIAS has classed this event as serious, and its recent findings have brought back up the flight in question about the pressures that are put on pilots, and the required rest times that are crucial to ensure the safety of all those onboard.

According to the report by Observator News, Osiceanu had brought up the difficult working conditions when flying for TAROM in an interview on a television show in Romania called “În premiereă”. The co-pilot complained about the demanding schedules that are expected.

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TAROM’s Schedule To Amsterdam

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TAROM, which is a relatively small European airline belonging to the SkyTeam alliance, operates a robust network of domestic and international flights to and from Romania. At the time of the incident involving the unwell pilot, the carrier had a schedule of 6:00 am departure from Bucharest, for an arrival three hours later into Amsterdam at 8:05 am (three-hour, five-minute flight, with a one-hour time zone change), and then a return service leaving Amsterdam one hour later.

The airline is expecting to welcome its first Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft this year, which is destined to be deployed on the route. Today, the schedule looks slightly different compared to when Osiceanu had his medical event, with the carrier offering a different schedule to 2021, with a double-daily service to Amsterdam, onboard the airline’s Boeing 737-800 aircraft, as below per the carrier’s website:

TAROM, which was first founded in 1920 as CFRNA and commenced operations under the TAROM name in September 1954. The carrier remains majority owned by the Romanian Government.