Biman Bangladesh airplane leaves for Dhaka after 11 hours, pilot still critical

In a recent development, the Bangladesh airplane that made an emergency landing at Maharashtra's Nagpur airport left for the destination after 11 long hours. The Bangladeshi airplane was heading to Dhaka from Muscat, carrying 126 passengers, when suddenly Biman Bangladesh Airlines was forced to make an emergency landing after the pilot suffered a severe cardiac arrest and collapsed. The pilot is undergoing medical treatment at Kingsway Hospital and is still critical. The plane landed at Nagpur airport at around 11.44 am on Friday.

Biman Bangladesh Flight leaves for Dhaka after 11 hours, pilot still critical

A senior official of the Nagpur airport, while speaking to PTI, said, "Biman Bangladesh arranged an alternative crew who flew to Nagpur. After that, the stranded flight departed for the destination along with the passengers at 10.37 pm on Friday. The condition of the pilot is still critical and he is undergoing treatment in a private hospital in Nagpur, "he said.

According to media reports, the pilot who suffered a heart attack was immediately wheeled to Kingsway Hospital, which is situated around 10 km from the Nagpur airport. The incident happened near Raipur when the flight was a few hours away from reaching its destination. The co-pilot immediately contacted Kolkata ATC for an emergency landing, and the Kolkata airport officials suggested the co-pilot land the airplane at the nearest airport, which was Nagpur. The co-pilot landed the airplane safely and no casualties were reported.

After the restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bangladesh and India had restricted air travel. Recently, the Government of India lifted the restriction on air travel, after which Biman Bangladesh resumed flight services with India. Meanwhile, a couple of days ago, an Indian Air Force helicopter made an emergency landing in Bihar's Manikupr village in Buxar district after the helicopter suffered a technical issue while it was on a training sortie. No casualties were reported, the aircraft carried 15 people.

IMAGE: REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE/PTI
(With PTI Inputs)