Biman flight makes emergency landing in India as pilot falls sick
The aircraft, a Boeing 737-8, was carrying 126 passengers from Muscat.
A passenger flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines made an emergency landing in India Friday as its pilot suffered a heart attack mid-air.
The Dhaka-bound flight landed at Nagpur airport around 10:40am in the western state of Maharashtra, said AHM Touhid-ul Ahsan, director at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.
The flight BG-022 was carrying 126 passengers from Muscat, reads a notice issued by Biman.
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An aviation official told the media the plane was near the central state of Chhattisgarh's capital Raipur when its co-pilot contacted the air traffic controller in the eastern city of Kolkata for an emergency landing.
"The Kolkata ATC, in turn, asked the co-pilot to land at the nearest airport. Around 10:40am, the passenger plane safely landed at Nagpur airport in the western state of Maharashtra," the official told the media.
The pilot of the flight, Nowshad Ataul Kaium, was soon rushed to nearby Hope Hospital and treated at the emergency unit of the hospital. His health condition is improving gradually, according to a notice issued by Biman.
A rescue team of eight left for Nagpur on a scheduled flight at 6.45pm and it is being expected that the affected flight will return to Dhaka tonight.
