Flight from Romania to Egypt diverted: 30 year old pilot had chest pain and collapsed – 7th pilot incident this month

TAROM Flight RO-7673 TSR-HRG service from Timisoara (Romania) to Hurghada (Egypt) diverted: 30 year old pilot had chest pain and collapsed in-flight on March 25th, 2023 – 7th pilot incident this month

A TAROM Boeing 737-800, registration YR-BGK performing flight RO-7673 from Timisoara (Romania) to Hurghada (Egypt) with 184 passengers on board, was enroute at FL370 about 150nm south of Bucharest in Bulgarian Airspace when the first officer reported the captain had become incapacitated and they needed to turn around and divert to Bucharest. The aircraft landed safely on Bucharest’s runway 26R about 80 minutes after departure. (click here)

The aircraft remained on the ground for about 90 minutes, then departed again.

The airline reported the “medical emergency of one of the members of the command crew” prompted the crew to divert to Bucharest.

According to media reports in Bulgaria the captain (30 years of age) complained about chest pain and increased heart rate, then fell unconscious. The captain is on his way to recovery.