Dhaka-bound passenger flight's pilot suffers severe heart attack mid-air, plane lands in Nagpur

A major accident was averted in India's airspace on Friday when a Dhaka bound passenger flight made an emergency landing at Nagpur airport as a Biman Air pilot suffered a serious heart attack mid-air, an official said.

Biman Air BG-022 was en route to Dhaka from Muscat.

The Nagpur Air Traffic Controller (ATC) received a call from the Biman air cockpit that a pilot had suffered a severe heart attack, requiring immediate help to land.

"ATC Nagpur advised the airport management and alerted the terminal building about an unscheduled Biman Air landing as the pilot had a heart attack mid-air. A medical team along with an ambulance was rushed to the spot for the pilot soon after the plane landed," a senior official told ANI.

The aircraft landed safely at Nagpur airport at around 11:40 am on Friday carrying 126 passengers. The pilot is stable now.

"As per the latest information, the pilot is in stable condition now and the aircraft is currently parked in the Bay Area. All passengers have been deboarded and immigration is continuing. The airline is arranging crew sets for flight operations from Nagpur," an official told ANI.

Airport officials further toldthat the matter could have been serious. But it is an international flight's pilot of the aircraft who first established contact with Kolkata ATC.

"The plane was passing near Raipur, Chhattisgarh. Immediately thereafter the aircraft established contact with Kolkata ATC and it coordinated with nearby ATC and directed the flight to land at Nagpur airport. The flight has landed in Nagpur safely," an ATC officer told ANI.

( With inputs from ANI )