A routine LATAM Airlines flight from Miami to Santiago turned into a tragic ordeal as Captain Ivan Andaur, a 25-year veteran pilot, collapsed in the bathroom mid-flight. The incident left the flight, carrying 271 passengers, with no choice but to divert to Panama City’s Tocumen International Airport.
The flight, identified as LA505, was operated using a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. Departing from Miami at 10:11 pm on Monday, August 14, the aircraft was en route to Santiago when the unforeseen medical emergency occurred. According to sources, Captain Andaur started feeling unwell roughly three hours into the flight.
Efforts to assist the pilot were swiftly initiated by the crew.
Upon his collapse in the bathroom, emergency measures were implemented in an attempt to stabilize his condition. However, despite the valiant efforts of the crew, Andaur’s condition deteriorated rapidly.
A decision was made to divert the flight to Panama City’s Tocumen International Airport, a journey that took approximately thirty minutes.
Tragically, upon landing, the first responders on the scene could only confirm the pilot’s passing.
The airline, LATAM Airlines Group, issued a statement addressing the tragic event. “LATAM Airlines Group reports that flight LA505 yesterday, which was on the Miami-Santiago route, had to land at the Tocumen International Airport in Panama due to a medical emergency for one of the three members of the command crew,” the statement read. “When the plane landed, emergency services provided life-saving help, but the pilot sadly passed away.”
In a sad development in the case of Pilot Incapacitation, one of the two pilots on the flight LA505 collapsed and died suddenly in the lavatory of the LATAM Airlines Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, approximately three hours into the flight,at FL370.
📸Bertea Aviation & Photo#incident pic.twitter.com/74dM24pWcz
— FL360aero (@fl360aero) August 16, 2023
The flight carried not only Captain Andaur but also a relief captain and a first officer on board.
