Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner line number 35 test registered N1015 (later became VT-ANH) at the India Aviation show, Hyderabad March 2012. Photo copyright Devesh Agarwal.
Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner line number 35 test registered N1015 (later became VT-ANH) at the India Aviation show, Hyderabad March 2012. Photo copyright Devesh Agarwal.

Proactive Air India pilots, AAI ATC and doctors land sick passenger

November 7, 2014 1 Comment 279 Views

Bold decisions, strong initiative and alert reactions by Air India pilots resulted in a passenger suffering an on-board medical emergency being successfully rushed to hospital.

An Air India Boeing 787-8 VT-ANP performing flight AI-331 from Bangkok, Thailand to Mumbai, India on November 5, with 244 passengers on-board, diverted to Kolkata India to offload an on-board medical emergency.

Around 21:00 IST (15:30 UTC) Capt. Sarabjeet Singh, and co-pilot Pranay Misal contacted the Kolkata Control ATC and informed them a passenger had fallen sick. The pilots informed the ATC that the passenger’s condition was serious and deteriorating fast and sought medical help. While not clear, it is assumed there were no doctors on board the flight. In a totally unusual yet highly proactive and commendable move the air traffic controllers took the airport authority doctors up to the control tower who then advised the crew via radio on how best to administer emergency treatment to the passenger till the plane landed.

The flight made an emergency diversion landing at Kolkata’s Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose airport around 22:00 IST and the sick passenger was rushed to a local hospital. The flight departed for Mumbai after a delay of two hours. The sick passenger though passed away in the hospital some time later.

Congratulations to the initiative of the Air India pilots, the air traffic controllers and the airport doctors in this crisis situation.

About Devesh Agarwal

A electronics and automotive product management, marketing and branding expert, he was awarded a silver medal at the Lockheed Martin innovation competition 2010. He is ranked 6th on Mashable's list of aviation pros on Twitter and in addition to Bangalore Aviation, he has contributed to leading publications like Aviation Week, Conde Nast Traveller India, The Economic Times, and The Mint (a Wall Street Journal content partner). He remains a frequent flier and shares the good, the bad, and the ugly about the Indian aviation industry without fear or favour.

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One comment

  1. Jay Dillon
    November 8, 2014 at 14:36

    Any theories as to the cause of death? It seems relevant to find out if this was from a contagious disease, or not.

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