A pilot died suddenly on Thursday at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport. The 37-year-old pilot of Air India was present in his office. During this time, he suddenly fell down and died. Although other colleagues present with him tried to save him by giving CPR, he was declared dead when taken to the hospital.
The cause of his death is believed to be a heart attack (Cardiac Arrest). This is the third time in the last three months that a pilot has died in this manner in India. Due to this, the question of increasing pressure over pilots has once again arisen.
According to ANI, an emergency situation arose at around 11.35 am on November 16 at Level-3 of the Air India office located at Delhi Airport. 37 year old Captain Himanil Kumar suddenly fainted and fell down. Seeing symptoms like heart attack, the co-staff present with him immediately tried to save his life by giving him CPR.
He was shifted to Medanta Medical Center in the Domestic Arrival Section of Delhi Airport (IG Airport), where doctors gave him first aid in case of heart attack. Despite this, he did not regain consciousness. After this, doctors declared him dead.
The deceased pilot was holding the post of commander in Air India
Captain Himanil Kumar was posted as Commander in Air India Airlines. According to the report of the Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), in the medical report of Commander Himanil Kumar, he was completely fit and had no signs of fatigue. He recently returned to duty after spending the Diwali holidays.
ANI quoted official sources as saying, Captain Himanil Kumar had a medical test on August 23, in which he was found completely fit. In this test, his medical validity was declared on August 30, 2024. No symptoms related to fatigue were found in him during flying duty.
According to the media reports, deceased pilot Himanil Kumar was currently undergoing a full type transition from A320 type aircraft to B777 (Boeing 777) aircraft. For this, his ground technical course started on October 3.
Third accident involving death of pilot in three months
This is the third incident of death of a young pilot due to heart attack in India in the last three months. Earlier in August, a pilot of an IndiGo flight going from Nagpur to Pune had died.
The IndiGo pilot died at the boarding gate of Nagpur Airport when he was going to fly the plane. A day before this, the former captain of SpiceJet had died while he was travelling as a passenger in a flight from Delhi to Doha. He left SpiceJet and joined Qatar Airways.
