Biman pilot who suffered heart attack mid-air ‘clinically dead’

Captain Naushad Qayyum -- the Biman Bangladesh Airlines pilot who suffered a heart attack mid-air on Friday -- is clinically dead, Captain Shoaib Chowdhury, a senior pilot of Biman, has confirmed to The Daily Star.

Captain Mahbubur Rahman, president of Bangladesh Airlines Pilot Association, told The Daily Star that the medical board in charge of his treatment will take the decision on removing ventilation support of Captain Nawshad following meeting with his family members.

A Biman official said the foreign ministry told them that they are trying to complete all necessary formalities to bring the Captain's body to Dhaka once the medical board announces him dead.

Sources in India yesterday told The Daily Star that the pilot is in "coma" and on ventilation support at the Intensive Care Unit of Kingsway Hospital in Nagpur in the western Indian state of Maharashtra.

"His (Captain Naushad) condition is severe…he is surviving with full ventilation support…he suffered brain hemorrhage and bleeding profusely…he remains unconscious," according to Assistant General Manager (AGM) of the Hospital Roshan Fulbandhe.

He said initially the pilot suffered cardiac arrest onboard the flight and after that he was shifted to the emergency ward of the hospital with "unresponsive and unconscious" condition.

Fulbandhe said Bangladesh authorities are in constant communication with the hospital about the health condition of Captain Naushad.

The Dhaka-bound Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight from Muscat BG 022 made an emergency landing at Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport in Nagpur when pilot Captain Naushad Qayyum felt unwell onboard the plane.