IndiGo's Vijayawada-Tiruchi flight cockpit crew member suffers mild heart attack before landing

A cockpit crew member of an IndiGo airlines flight coming from Vijayawada suffered a "mild heart attack" before the aircraft landed at Tiruchirappalli airport on Friday, officials said.

The crew member complained of chest pain at the time of landing and was rushed to a hospital where doctors diagnosed mild heart attack, an official of the airlines said. The aircraft landed safely but its onward journey to Chennai was cancelled.

"The pilot was taken to a hospital and later diagnosed with a mild heart attack. He is expected to undergo an angioplasty tomorrow (in Tiruchirappalli)", the official told PTI. Angioplasty is a procedure used to open blocked arteries of the heart. T

he airlines declined to divulge any further details, including the number of passengers onboard the flight that arrived from Vijayawada. A Tamil Nadu minister among the passengers booked for Chennai reached Madurai by road and took a flight from there, airport sources said.

The airline on its website said the Chennai-bound flight, scheduled to depart at 08.45 am and arrive at 09.55 am, was cancelled. Later, the other passengers were accommodated in another flight to Chennai, they said.