Stop kidding around, Mate. Wake up ferfucksake...

Shortly after takeoff, a pilot flying a light aircraft over the skies of northwest England last June noticed the head of his copilot—a flying instructor he knew well—had rolled back in his chair. The pilot thought his friend was merely pretending to be asleep, even when the instructor slumped over onto the pilot’s shoulder.

The pilot continued the flight and landed as normal. Only when he tried to get the instructor to quit kidding around did the pilot realize the instructor was dead.

According to a report from the U.K.’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch, the 57-year-old instructor had suffered a fatal cardiac arrest inside the cockpit but his colleague believed the whole thing was a joke for the entirety of the journey.

Although the pilot was able to safely land the aircraft, the safety report concluded that “had this occurred on another flight the outcome could have been different.” The instructor-who was known to have had a history of high blood pressure and was overweight-had passed a medical four months before the fateful flight.

 

I'm sure this won't make you feel any more comfortable flying, but mid-flight cardiac arrest deaths are rare, but not unheard of. In 2017, American Airlines Capt. Michael Johnston died of a heart attack while flying between Boston and Phoenix...