As IndiGo flight 6E-286 was preparing to take off from Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi on Thursday, 4 March, a passenger on board informed the cabin crew that he was positive for COVID-19, and showed the staff his test results for confirmation.
The situation turned chaotic as passengers on the flight panicked over the man’s announcement. The flight was on the runway to take off for Pune, and was delayed for two hours, said an official to ANI.
“The pilot of the aircraft turned back the flight from the runway to taxi-bay and offloaded all the passengers, including the COVID-19 positive passenger. Later, the aircraft was fumigated and sanitized and the seat covers were also changed,” the official said in the report.
The passengers were given PPE suits for the duration of the entire flight and were supplied with beverages and water during the delay, reported NDTV.
Upon de-boarding, the man was taken in an ambulance to Safdarjung hospital in Delhi for treatment, added the report.
Earlier Health Emergency
Two days before this incident, on 2 March, a Lucknow-bound IndiGo aircraft from Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, was diverted to the Karachi airport, Pakistan, due to a medical emergency after an elderly passenger fell ill onboard.
The captain of the flight – 6E 1412 – contacted Karachi Air Traffic Control for permission for an emergency landing on humanitarian grounds, which was granted.
However, the passenger, identified as Habeeb-ur-Rehman, (67), was declared dead on arrival in Karachi by the airport medical team, reported the Hindustan Times.
(With inputs from ANI and NDTV)
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