The Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) walked an extra mile to come to the aid of a family that faced a mid-air health crisis.
The Air India Express (AIE) aircraft in which the family of five were travelling to Sharjah from Kannur made an emergency landing at MIA on December 3 after a woman suffered a cardiac arrest and breathing issues.
Based on the information that the airport operation control central (AOCC) of MIA received from the commander of Flight IX-745 about this medical emergency at 9.21 a.m., the entire emergency apparatus of MIA and stakeholders were put on alert.
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With a senior MIA official running point, the family, which included the ailing passenger, her three minor children and her husband, were escorted to A.J. Hospital at Kuntikana, Mangaluru, for treatment in 17 minutes from the time that the aircraft rolled to a stop at 10 a.m., after a doctor attached to the Airport Health Organisation (APHO) examined the passenger on board the aircraft and found her to be stable.
The senior MIA official was in constant touch with the airline officials, the ground handling agency (GHA) staff who escorted the passenger, aged 33, to the hospital, and the doctors treating her. Once the doctors confirmed that the passenger was out of danger and had recovered, the senior MIA official got in touch with her husband and assured them of all possible assistance for their onward journey to Sharjah, which they undertook later in the day.
The family later departed on Flight 6e-1417 from MIA to Sharjah at 11 p.m. and on their arrival at the airport from the hospital they received priority in clearing the mandatory RT-PCR tests and other statutory clearances. Porters were on hand to escort the family to the boarding gate.
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The aerodrome rescue and firefighting (ARFF), APHO, Customs, airline, CISF, immigration, and GHA worked in tandem , a release from the airport said on Saturday.