A pilot thought his instructor was 'pretending to nap' but the man had actually died inflight

A flight instructor accompanying a pilot on a private flight in England last year suffered cardiac arrest and died shortly after takeoff — but the pilot thought his fellow flier was "just pretending to take a nap" and didn't realize the truth until after landing on the runway.

A June 2022 flight above Blackpool Airport in Lancashire turned tragic when one of the plane's only two crew members, a longtime flying instructor, 57, died inflight, slumping on the pilot's shoulder after a cardiac incident, according to a newly-released safety report.