Indian plane makes emergency landing in Karachi after passenger dies on board

• IndiGo airline plane enters Pakistani airspace via Iran.
• Captain requests air traffic control for an emergency landing on humanitarian grounds.
• The plane was travelling from Sharjah to Indian city Lucknow.

KARACHI: A plane of Indian airline flying from Sharjah to Lucknow made an emergency landing in Karachi on Tuesday after one of the passenger's aboard fell sick.

IndiGo airlines flight number 6E1412 travelling from Sharjah to Lucknow had entered Pakistani airspace at around 4:00am via Iran, Civil Aviation Authority sources told Geo News. They said a passenger had fallen ill when the jet was in Pakistani airspace.

Once the passenger fell ill, the captain contacted the air traffic control and requested an emergency landing on humanitarian grounds at the Karachi airport.

Read more: Indian plane makes emergency landing in Karachi as passenger from Saudi Arabia dies

Once the request was received, the airline made an emergency landing at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport at 5:30am.

Sources, however, said that the 67-year-old passenger, Habibur Rehman, had already passed away on the plane.

The Pakistani medical team said that the passenger had passed away due to a cardiac arrest.

Read more: Plane makes emergency landing at Lahore airport

The plane departed for the Indian city of Ahmedabad at 8:36am from Karachi after the doctors officially declared the passenger dead and medico-legal formalities were completed.

Indian plane makes emergency landing in Karachi as passenger from Saudi Arabia dies

This is not the first time that Pakistan has allowed an Indian plane to make an emergency landing in Karachi.

In November last year, an Indian plane flying from Saudi Arabia made an emergency landing in Pakistan's port city as a passenger aboard the flight died of a heart attack.

Sources at the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority had informed Geo News that the private Indian airline's jet was flying from Saudi Arabia's capital, Riyadh, to Delhi when it had to make an emergency landing at Karachi's Jinnah International Airport.

Read more: Indian aircraft makes emergency landing at Karachi Airport

An Indian passenger, Muhammad Nowshad, fell ill on GoAir flight GOW 6658 as the jet flew from Riyadh to Delhi. As the plane touched ground, a doctor at Karachi's Jinnah International Airport was requested to attend to him but the man died before he could be administered medical aid.