Qatar Airways flight makes emergency landing

[raihans]

Qatar Airways flight makes emergency landing after pilot dies from heart attack
By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief
Published: 15:29 October 13, 2010

Manama: A Qatar Airways plane on Wednesday afternoon made an emergency landing in Kuala Lumpur after its pilot died apparently from a heart attack, Al Jazeera.net reported.

The pilot died minutes after the plane took off from Manila, and the co-pilot was able to land in the Malaysian capital. No-one was hurt in the landing, the report said.

The plane will resume its flight to Doha after the arrival of a new pilot.

Airline confirms pilot's death

Qatar Airways has confirmed that the captain of flight QR645 died on board the flight from Manila to Doha.

In a statement carried by Qatar News Agency (QNA), the airline said that the flight was diverted to Kuala Lumpur where it landed at approximately 3.35 am universal time (11.35 am local time), allowing a new crew to board.

"The flight departed Kuala Lumpur at 0516hrs UTC. Qatar Airways’ priority, as always, remains the comfort and safety of its passengers and staff," the statement said.

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Related:

Qatar Airways pilot who died during flight was Indian
The Qatar Airways pilot who died on a flight was a 43-year-old Indian national who worked with the airline for five years

By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief
Published: 11:38 October 14, 2010

Manama: The Qatar Airways pilot who died on a flight was a 43-year-old Indian national who worked with the airline for five years, according to a Qatari daily.

Ajay Kukreja suffered a massive heart attack shortly after he took off from Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport, and his co-pilot had to fly the plane (Flight No QR645), with around 260 passengers on board, to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) for an emergency landing.

After the pilot complained of a chest pain, the co-pilot requested permission from the KLIA authorities to land and asked that a medical team be on hand. The passengers on board were not told about the pilot’s condition.

However, the pilot was declared dead after the flight landed at KLIA, The Peninsula reported on Thursday.

The entire crew of the plane was changed, and it continued on its journey leaving Kuala Lumpur at 1.15pm and landing in Doha at 3.37pm, more than four-and-a-half hours behind schedule.

Meanwhile Kukreja’s body was taken to Serdang Hospital in Kuala Lumpur for a post-mortem. Reports said he died of cardiac arrest. He reportedly suffered a heart attack roughly an hour after the flight had left Manila.

Sources close to his family in Doha said he had no past history of heart problems. However, he was asthmatic and always carried an inhaler. His body will be flown to Mumbai directly from Kuala Lumpur, and Qatar Airways is also making arrangements to bring his family over.

Kukreja was from Delhi and had married woman from Goa, but his parents live in Mumbai. He has been living in Doha and working with Qatar Airways for five years. His widow teaches in a nursery in Doha, and the couple's two children, a 13-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl, are students.

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/qatar/qat ... n-1.696419