
An Indian commercial flight made an emergency landing at Karachi’s Jinnah Terminal International Airport on Tuesday after a passenger on the aircraft fell ill. The aircraft, of India’s private airline IndiGo, was en-route from Sharjah to Lucknow when a medical emergency was reported on board.
A Lucknow-bound flight of Indigo 6E 1412 from Sharjah made an emergency landing at Karachi airport on Tuesday morning when a passenger complained of chest pain. The 67-year-old passenger, identified as Habeeb-ur-Rehman, died before the plane landed at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport, people familiar with the matter said. A report Pakistani newspaper Express Tribune said the passenger had suffered a heart attack. After confirmation of the passenger’s death by doctors, the necessary procedural steps and documentation were carried out in Karachi, after which, the Indian plane took off again for Ahmedabad.
According to one official at Lucknow airport, the pilot had requested Karachi airport authorities to sanitise the aircraft but the request was not accepted. The passengers were deplaned at Ahmedabad airport and the aircraft was sanitized before being allowed to proceed to Lucknow.
“IndiGo flight 6E 1412 from Sharjah to Lucknow was diverted to Karachi due to a medical emergency. Unfortunately, the passenger could not be revived and was declared dead on arrival by the airport medical team,” the statement by the airline said, according to news agency ANI.
A similar such emergency landing was made at Karachi’s Jinnah International airport in November 2020 by commercial Indian airline GoAir, when due to a passenger suffering cardiac arrest, the plane had to land in Karachi. Pakistan closed its airspace to Indian traffic after aerial dogfights in February this year ratcheted up tensions between the two nuclear-armed rivals. It reopened its skies for all civilian traffic in July, ending months of restrictions affecting major international routes.