Narrative:

The day started out like any other return leg from hong kong. We met in the hotel lobby and shook hands with the 2 relief pilots. We talked a little about the layover and boarded the bus. On the way through the airport; first relief first officer mentioned to me he had some diarrhea on his layover; but it had subsided. He said he felt much better but still 'a little weak' though. We arrived in operations and started flight planning - checked the track message; notams; reviewed the aircraft maintenance history; observed the unusual route due to the weather and noticed we were still planned under 12 hours. One of the write-ups was the lower rest bunk for the pilots as inop and there was a first-class seat in lieu of the deferred bunk. Knowing that first relief first officer was not 100%; combined with the fact that the flight was less than 12 hours - the captain asked if he would be interested in resting in the 1st class seat all the way home. He said he would. The captain consulted with the dispatcher and the chief pilot desk. They agreed we could proceed as a 3-man crew and thanked the captain for not canceling the flight. Later in the flight we were informed that the first relief first officer's symptoms deteriorated to the point that he vomited; defecated; coughed and urinated during the flight. None of these symptoms were obvious during the ride to the airport or in operations during flight planning. The flight attendants also provided a mask for him to wear. Before departure; we were under the impression that he was a little weak from his prior problems and that they had subsided. Upon arrival in the us; immigration/customs officials were notified to check out the first relief first officer. He was examined; and taken to a hospital to be thoroughly assessed. Neither myself nor any other crewmember has a medical background; however; we determined to the best of our ability with the information we had at the time of departure that this pilot was not fit to fly the aircraft but was probably okay to fly as a passenger back to the us. He did not accomplish any flight duties; nor step onto the flight deck before; during or after the flight.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B747-400 relief pilot became ill on layover; still feeling weak at the airport; Captain suggested relief pilot reside in a passenger seat rather than the cockpit since staffing was adequate with the three remaining pilots.

Narrative: The day started out like any other return leg from Hong Kong. We met in the hotel lobby and shook hands with the 2 Relief Pilots. We talked a little about the layover and boarded the bus. On the way through the airport; first relief First Officer mentioned to me he had some diarrhea on his layover; but it had subsided. He said he felt much better but still 'a little weak' though. We arrived in Operations and started flight planning - checked the track message; NOTAMs; reviewed the aircraft maintenance history; observed the unusual route due to the weather and noticed we were still planned under 12 hours. One of the write-ups was the lower rest bunk for the pilots as inop and there was a First-class seat in lieu of the deferred bunk. Knowing that first relief First Officer was not 100%; combined with the fact that the flight was less than 12 hours - the Captain asked if he would be interested in resting in the 1st class seat all the way home. He said he would. The Captain consulted with the dispatcher and the chief pilot desk. They agreed we could proceed as a 3-man crew and thanked the Captain for not canceling the flight. Later in the flight we were informed that the first relief First Officer's symptoms deteriorated to the point that he vomited; defecated; coughed and urinated during the flight. None of these symptoms were obvious during the ride to the airport or in operations during flight planning. The flight attendants also provided a mask for him to wear. Before departure; we were under the impression that he was a little weak from his prior problems and that they had subsided. Upon arrival in the US; immigration/customs officials were notified to check out the first relief First Officer. He was examined; and taken to a hospital to be thoroughly assessed. Neither myself nor any other crewmember has a medical background; however; we determined to the best of our ability with the information we had at the time of departure that this pilot was not fit to fly the aircraft but was probably okay to fly as a passenger back to the US. He did not accomplish any flight duties; nor step onto the flight deck before; during or after the flight.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.