Did a Delta Pilot Collapse and Die Midflight?

No.

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A widely shared article from The True Defender, which describes itself as having been founded “as a counter to the establishment media that primarily shares news and opinion from a decidedly liberal perspective,” claims that “that a fully vaccinated Delta Airlines pilot died in flight within the last two weeks, an emergency landing was forced, and the company is covering it up!”

This is a false claim. 

The rumor comes from “The Stew Peters Show” podcast, where podcast guest Jane Ruby shared a story “directly related to Delta airlines” that was “corroborated from three separate whistleblowers,” one of them being the co-pilot. She claimed a “pilot died in flight” and that the co-pilot had to make an emergency landing.

Again, this isn’t true. 

Ruby, who describes herself as “​​a medical professional and a pharmaceutical drug development expert,” has previously promoted debunked claims about the COVID-19 vaccine, such as the false rumor that magnetism was being added to the COVID-19 vaccine. According to Reuters, Ruby has also promoted the claim, without sufficient evidence, that the COVID-19 vaccine causes blood anomalies. 

In an email to The Dispatch Fact Check, a spokesperson from Delta said: “Delta is aware of reports suggesting one of the airline’s pilots passed away from vaccine complications while operating a flight, resulting in an emergency landing. All of these allegations are false.”

The Federal Aviation Administration also told The Dispatch Fact Check via email that: “The FAA has found no evidence such an event occurred.”

If you have a claim you would like to see us fact check, please send us an email at factcheck@thedispatch.com. If you would like to suggest a correction to this piece or any other Dispatch article, please email corrections@thedispatch.com.

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Comments (9)
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  1. Alex DeLarge

    I'm sure there are also obscure whackadoo rumors about people dropping dead from covid because they weren't vaxxed. But Zuckerberg isn't going to pay anyone to debunk those stories.

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      Probably Wrong

      There may also be fewer such stories to debunk, as there is less interest in fabricating tales of unvaccinated people dying when unvaccinated people are 11 times more likely to die than vaccinated people.

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    Bill Nelson

    There would be no need for an emergency landing. One pilot can fly an air transport aircraft with no problems (they actually don’t even need 1). The FAA has not moved to allow single pilot mostly because of resistance from pilots, the airlines would obviously love it. Flight systems are very capable once the flight plan is loaded.

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    Aylene Wright

    Um ... nice Fact Check, but I hadn't heard this rumor, heard of the True Defender, or this Jane Ruby or the Stew Peters Show until this Fact Check.

    At a certain point, isn't providing such wild claims the courtesy of a Fact Check actually propagating it further? Much as your attempted debunking of "the Pfizer vaccine isn't actually FDA approved" resulted in people continuing to push the claim in the comments.

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    1. Midge

      In aggregate, fact-checks of whackadoo sources do serve a function, though: they make it easier to tell whether a source you haven't heard of is whackadoo.

      If a family member sends me something from the "Eagle Sun", and a quick search on the "Eagle Sun" turns up that it's been fact-checked multiple times by reliable outlets, skimming those fact-checks gives me some idea what kind of paper this "Eagle Sun" is.

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        Aylene Wright

        Good point!

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      Patrick

      Too funny. I was just going to post that this is one of the only fact check rumors that I’ve actually heard! Might be because I live in Delta land here in Atlanta. It’s made the rounds.

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    3. Martini, Shawn

      Fair point Aylene. I would note that I've heard the Dispatch founders discuss the very point you're making several times. They're sensitive to the concern about elevating claims that don't deserve the dignity of a response.

      I hadn't heard of the claim or the outlet either. But, I trust the editorial staff at this outlet enough to feel comfortable that if they do a fact check, it's because the claim is getting legs, and there are enough folks out there that need to hear it.

      I'm sure it's a tough balancing act, but I know this editorial staff takes it seriously.

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        Aylene Wright

        I realize some of these items are taken from Facebook, which I have never been a product ... er ... user of. But there's no label on the FB Affiliate Fact Checks to tell them apart from other ones.

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