A Lucknow-bound IndiGo aircraft from Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, was diverted to the Karachi airport, Pakistan on Tuesday morning, 2 March, due to a medical emergency after an elderly passenger fell ill onboard.
The passenger, identified as Habeeb-ur-Rehman, (67), was declared dead on arrival in Karachi by the airport medical team, reported the Hindustan Times.
The captain of the flight – 6E 1412 – contacted Karachi Air Traffic Control at 4 am on Tuesday for permission for an emergency landing on humanitarian grounds. The permission was granted, and the flight landed at around 5 am.
After the passenger was found to be deceased, documentation was carried out and the flight took off to Ahmedabad around 8.36 am, added the report.
Karachi airport authorities however denied the request of the IndiGo pilot to sanitize the aircraft, so the plane was first sanitized at Ahmedabad, after which it took off for Lucknow, added the report.
In a statement, IndiGo detailed the incident and expressed condolences saying, “We are deeply saddened with the news and our prayers and wishes are with his family.”
(With inputs from the Hindustan Times.)
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