An Indian plane, SpiceJet’s flight SG 15, made an emergency landing at Jinnah International Airport in Karachi after a 27-year-old Indian passenger, Dhruv Dharimesh Kumar, complained of low sugar levels. The private airline’s Boeing 737 aircraft was en route from Ahmedabad to Dubai on Tuesday when the incident occurred.
Approximately 45 minutes after takeoff from Ahmedabad at 8:38 pm, the passenger became unconscious due to critically low sugar levels at an altitude of around 26,000 feet near Karachi over the Arabian Sea.
The pilot contacted Karachi’s Air Traffic Control, which granted permission for the emergency landing on humanitarian grounds. The plane landed at the airport at 9:20 pm, and a medical team from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) was present near the runway.
Doctors from the CAA provided immediate medical assistance and medications to the passenger. Once the passenger’s health stabilized, the airline authorities and other passengers expressed gratitude to the Civil Aviation Medical team. The plane was refueled, and flight SG 15 departed from Karachi for Dubai at 11 pm.
This incident follows a similar one on October 14, where an India-bound flight from Dubai to Amritsar, Air India Express Flight IX-192, made an emergency landing in Karachi due to a medical emergency involving a passenger.
The pilot, after contacting air traffic control authorities, received permission to land in Karachi on humanitarian grounds. CAA medics attended to the patient, and after clearance for air travel, the plane resumed its journey to Amritsar.
PIA Successfully Retrieves Stranded Airbus A320 From Jakarta, Second Aircraft Expected Soon
In another development, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) successfully recovered one of its two aircraft stranded in Indonesia, as an Airbus A320 bearing registration number AP-DLG landed at Islamabad International Airport.
The aircraft, carrying two pilots and a crew member, departed from Jakarta, refueled in Bangkok, and arrived in Islamabad around 10:45 pm. Senior officials from PIA management were present to receive the aircraft, which has now been reintegrated into the PIA fleet.
The second stranded aircraft, another Airbus A320, is anticipated to return to Pakistan within the next couple of weeks. To secure the release of one of the stranded planes, PIA had to make a payment of $26 million to the leasing company. A partial payment of $13 million was made, leading to the release of the recovered aircraft.
