‘Could’ve saved him if I were a doctor’

"If any doctor was on board the flight or if I were a doctor, the early demise of Capt Nawshad Ataul Quaiyum could have been prevented," said Bangladeshi expatriate Abdul Karim, who was on Biman's Muscat-Dhaka flight that had to make an emergency landing in India's Nagpur on August 28 after its pilot in command Capt Nawshad suffered a heart attack.

Capt Nawshad was on life support soon after he was admitted to Kingsway Hospital in Nagpur. But the reputed pilot of Biman Bangladesh Airlines died on Monday.

Abdul Karim of Raojan in Chattogram were among multiple passengers of the flight The Daily Star spoke to.

"When Capt Nawshad was taken out the plane at the Nagpur airport, I saw him from very close distance. When I heard about his death, that image of his face appeared repeatedly in my mind," said Karim.

Expatriate Ariful Islam of Hatiya upazila was in business class and could see the events unfold.

"He saved the lives of 149 passengers by his skills around five years ago ... We cannot forget him," said Ariful.

Ariful was referring to the incident in which Capt Nawshad safely landed a Boeing 737 after one of its two tyres of a main landing gear exploded during take- off. Capt Nawshad landed the plane and the remaining tyre of the landing gear exploded on the runway. On August 28, only a few passengers in the front knew what was going on, he added.

The crew wanted to keep the information of Capt Nawshad suffering a heart attack a secret so that passengers did not panic.

Most passengers knew after the plane landed at the Indian airport.

"I think that the pilot suffered minor illness and he would get well soon. But I could not imagine that he would pass away so soon," said Mohammad Nurul Huda, another passenger of the flight, who hails from Mirsarai of Chattogram.

He too thought the life of the pilot could have been saved, if there were a doctor on board.

After about three hours in the air, the cabin crew via the PA system asked if there was a doctor on board.

No one responded.

So, the passengers assumed that someone might have become sick, but they never thought it was the pilot.

Abdul Karim was seated at the front and he could see all the passengers and none of them seemed sick. He figured a crew member was sick.

"The cabin crew at one stage wanted to know whether any passenger had a phone with international roaming service. Fortunately, I had such a phone and I offered it to them," he said.

"Then, the cabin crew took the phone and went inside the cockpit. When I got back my phone, I found that the cabin crew called some phone numbers, including Bangladeshi ones," Karim added.

A few moments later, the cabin crew announced the emergency landing, citing illness of someone. When the plane landed at Nagpur airport, two ambulances were ready there.

When the door was opened, two medics entered and took the pilot out attaching an Oxygen mask.

Karim and Ariful later learnt that it was the pilot in command Capt Nawshad.

"My mother had died one day before. I was upset and I was eager to come home quickly. But I forgot everything after seeing the face of Capt Nawshad," said Karim.

The flight was delayed for around four hours in Muscat due to technical trouble. Furthermore, such emergency landing in India triggered anger among passengers, who did not know what had happened at that time.

"Most of the passengers could not sense how severe the situation was? How much pressure the crew faced," said Karim.

Karim helped in calming the passengers. 

"Many passengers thought that the flight had technical problems again and that sickness of someone on board was just an excuse," added Karim.

However, the passengers expressed their gratitude towards the pilot and his team when they learnt what had actually happened.

On the same night, another flight was sent to Nagpur to bring the 124 passengers home.

The cabin crew thanked Karim for his role.

"I was happy to get such an honour from the cabin crew. But all these appeared worthless to me when I heard the news that Capt Nawshad is no more. Now, I always think that if I were a doctor, I could have saved him," said Karim.