AS10 SEA-MCO 30SEP diversion
 

AS10 diverted to ATL en route to MCO due to a flight deck medical emergency. Thanks to ops and crew scheduling, a new crew member was available and there was only a short delay for fueling and the swap out. Hoping for a swift and full recovery.

Indeed. Sounds like AS managed this quite well- hope the crewmember is ok.

Does AS staff extra crew somewhere on the East Coast, or was this person "borrowed" from another flight I wonder.

My guess is grabbed crew from arriving the SEA-ATL flight. AS750 landed in ATL at 4:17 this morning ~20 min before the diverted flight arrived. I assume the ATL crew doesn't normally work the return flight and its short enough that they don't go over max duty time.

"Flight deck" suggests a pilot. Not sure that SEA-ATL-SEA would be legal.

I was on that flight in row 1 of First.

About an hour into the flight the first officer fell ill. One of the pax was a doctor and saw to him at the forward FA jump seats with two FAs helping and guarding, while the flight continued to MCO. Around BHM, the doctor decided the FO needed additional care and ordered the flight to divert.

Upon landing at ATL the flight was met by an ambulance.

We did get a replacement FO from the SEA-ATL flight as that pilot only had 4 of 15 hours. When we landed in MCO, the FO was to be flown back to ATL.

According to the Captain, OPS organized the backup pilot and he volunteered.

The crew did an incredible job.

We found out that crew was laying over at ATL, not returning to SEA.

But an ATL-MCO tag probably would be. It’s also possible that there was a deadhead or jumpseat rider available.

I wonder if he had the fish or the lasagna . . .

Shirley you can't be serious?? :p

Sorry, misread as MCO-SEA. Certainly possible to add on a legal ATL-MCO leg to a SEA-ATL one, assuming pilot began in SEA.

There would be more than enough time before hitting max duty time. I'm not sure about pilot but FA max duty time is ten hours and thirty minutes w/ some exceptions. With the extra leg pilot couldn't have been at more than 8 hours.

Pilot max duty time is lower than FAs.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text..._A_to_part_117

But still within scope on that trip because the plane landed at ATL so close to the original. So the total time remained under 8 hours.

I am serious, and quit calling me Shirley.

I'm really glad they made the decision to divert. One clarification, and I realize I'm splitting hairs, but an doctor onboard can't order a flight to divert - only Medlink doctors can do that. A doctor onboard can certainly convey the gravity of a situation to Medlink, but ultimately, the decision is between the Captain and Medlink. Medlink, being the contracted emergency medical service that Alaska works with when something goes awry on a flight, medically speaking.

And further hair-splitting: the final authority is always the Captain's; the FAR (Federal Air Regulation) that both guides and chastens every pilot:

https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/14/91.3

Of course, that doesn't mean AS doesn't have internal procedures and consultative process set up (and procedures when a pilot deviates from those), but, in the end, the Pilot-in-Command is the only one responsible for the final decision - for better or worse.