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

• A flying instructor died during a private flight last year, according to a new safety report.
• The pilot thought his instructor was "just pretending to take a nap," before realizing he was dead.
• A UK aviation body found three instances of pilots dying of a heart attack mid-flight since 2005.

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.