Doha bound Indigo flight diverted to Karachi due to medical emergency, passenger declared dead

A medical emergency on board a Doha-bound flight prompted the aircraft to make a landing at Pakistan's Karachi. The passenger, however, was declared dead by the airport medical team.

New Delhi:A Doha-bound Indigo flight was diverted to Pakistan's Karachi on Monday due to a medical emergency onboard. Unfortunately, the passenger was declared dead by the airport medical team, the airline stated. In a statement, Indigo expressed its condolence and said that the airline is making arrangements for transferring other passengers of the flight.

“We are deeply saddened by the news and our prayers and wishes are with his family and loved ones. We’re currently making arrangements for transferring the other passengers of the flight, in coordination with the relevant authorities,” the statement read. The 60-year-old Nigerian resident died of a heart attack, the death certificate issued by Airport Health Department in Karachi, which was posted on social media by a local journalist stated. "Emergency landing of an Indian airline in #Karachi, the pilot took permission to land when the passenger's condition worsened, the passenger died before landing," he tweeted.

Earlier, in February a Delhi-bound IndiGo flight that took off from Cochin was diverted to Bhopal on account of a medical emergency on board. "IndiGo flight 6E 2407 operating from Cochin to Delhi has been diverted to Bhopal due to a medical emergency on board. We regret the inconvenience caused to other passengers," the airline had issued a statement. The passenger was shifted to the nearest hospital soon after landing at Bhopal.

On the same day, a Dammam-bound Air India Express flight from Calicut was diverted to Thiruvananthapuram. This was because the aircraft's tail brushed the ground during take-off. Earlier in the first week of February a Calicut-bound Air India Express flight from Abu Dhabi had to land back at Abu Dhabi airport soon after take-off. This was after flames were detected in one of the engines after the aircraft took off.

Last week on Sunday, a 24-year-old woman was detained for allegedly smoking in a Kolkata-Bangalore bound Indigo flight's washroom. The cabin crew found a cigarette butt in the dustbin when they checked the washroom. The crew immediately poured water into the dustbin for safety purposes to put it off. The incident took place 30 minutes before the flight landed at Bangalore's Kempegowda International Airport.