A United Airlines international flight was diverted to a Texas airport Saturday because of a medical emergency.
The flight left Guatemala City, Guatemala, at 2:53 p.m., bound for Chicago, the Houston Chronicle reported, citing a statement by United.
The medical emergency developed a few hours later, causing the jet to land at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston around 5:39 p.m., according to the report.
“United did not comment on the nature of the medical situation or whether it affected a pilot, passenger or flight attendant,” the Chronicle said.
Other news reports indicated the emergency did, in fact, involve a flight crew member.
KHOU-TV reported the airline posted a message on its flight status page telling passengers, “We diverted to Houston this evening so our team can address an unexpected crew-related matter. We’re sorry for any inconvenience, and we’ll keep you updated as we get more information.”
The TV station reported the message was later updated, saying, “To get you on your way, we’ve assigned your flight a new crew member that we’re expecting to arrive in time for an 8:00 p.m. departure. We greatly appreciate your continued patience throughout this experience.”
The flight continued and landed at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport at 10:47 p.m., according to the Chronicle.
KPRC-TV contacted the airline and said it was told “United Airlines Flight 2007 was diverted to IAH. It was diverted for a technical and a medical condition.”
A number of other flights have been disrupted recently for medical issues affecting the flight crew.
An American Eagle flight left Chicago on Nov. 26 bound for Columbus, Ohio, but had to return after the captain became incapacitated.
The pilot was transported to a hospital but died there, according to news reports.
FAA is now investigating after the captain of American Eagle (Envoy) Flight 3556 became incapacitated shortly after taking off from ORD Saturday night. The captain died later at a hospital. The copilot safely landed the plane at ORD. 57 passengers & crewpic.twitter.com/pcvFIuUCM9
Does this make you scared to fly?— Kris Van Cleave (@krisvancleave) November 22, 2022
In February, American Airlines pilot Bob Snow talked with Fox News host Tucker Carlson about suffering a heart attack last year, minutes after landing a plane with 200 passengers aboard.
Snow made no bones about blaming his cardiac episode on the mandated COVID vaccine and said it was “unconscionable” that pilots were forced to be vaccinated. He added that he and his fellow aviators were “treated as giant guinea pigs.”
?URGENT — Pilot Bob Snow Has Heart Attack Six Minutes After Landing His Plane Carrying 200 Passengers, Blames COVID Vaccine
“I’ve been contacted by pilots who had issues post-vaccine. My former co-workers unfortunately passed away as a consequence of receiving the vaccine.” pic.twitter.com/13FhMEj7eo
— James Cintolo, RN FN CPT (@healthbyjames) February 1, 2023
News outlets reported Saturday that a British Airways pilot collapsed and died of a heart attack just before he was set to fly a passenger jet from Cairo to London.
The pilot was stricken at the crew’s hotel but made his way from his room to the foyer, where CPR was attempted, to no avail, The Sun reported.
The flight was rescheduled, but “[p]assengers were oblivious to the reason behind their wait,” the news outlet said.
The Sun quoted a source as saying the incident “has rocked [British Airways]. It doesn’t bear imagining if he had suffered a heart attack at 30,000ft.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
