Pilot’s timely intervention saves baby

KOCHI: Timely intervention by a Keralite

pilot

on board a Bhubaneswar -Bengaluru

flight

saved the life of a four-moth-old baby.

Captain Nishanth Nair

, commander of the Air Asia flight, diverted the flight to Hyderabad to save the

baby

of a biscuit factory worker.


On May 23, Odisha native Singari Singh boarded the aircraft with his daughter, wife Pulasi Singh and friend Subal Sahu to take the baby to Narayana Hrudayalaya hospital in Bengaluru to get her treated for her heart problem. Singh had collected money for his daughter’s treatment with the help of Sahu, the union leader at the biscuit factory.

About 40 minutes ahead of the flight’s landing, the baby became breathless after being breastfed.

When Captain Nair, heard of the medical emergency, he along with co-pilot Rootu Goswami immediately calculated the distance to the nearest airport and decided on Hyderabad.

When senior cabin crew member, Priyanka Pradhan, who was tending to the child informed the pilots that a doctor onboard has advised that child must be deplaned and provided immediate medical care, they decided to divert the flight to Hyderabad.

“We contacted Hyderabad ATC and informed them of the situation. Within 25 minutes we landed and all preparations were in place to receive the child,” said Nishanth Nair, based in Bengaluru with 16-years of aviation experience under his belt.

“It was anxious moments for us and we wanted to save the child. When the cabin crew informed that the child has opened her eyes, we were positive about saving the child. The airport had prepared the West end of the runway for us so that we don’t waste time turning the flight around as we were coming from the East. Within 20 minutes we took-off to Bengalaru,” said Nishanth.

Sahu said, “We were worried. Fortunately, the flight staff helped us and language was no barrier.”

However, Singh’s woes didn’t end there. After treatment at a private hospital in Hyderabad, doctors advised them to take the baby to Bengaluru in an ambulance. “We had to go knocking from door-to-door and finally were able to manage an ambulance on Saturday evening,” added Sahu.