IndiGo flight to Lucknow makes emergency landing at Karachi airport as flyer takes ill

An IndiGo flight from UAE’s Sharjah to Lucknow had to make an emergency landing at the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, Pakistan, early Tuesday due to a medical emergency on-board the aircraft. A 67-year-old flyer, whose health had deteriorated during the flight, was de-boarded in Karachi and was pronounced dead by a medical team at the airport. The landing was made on humanitarian grounds, airline officials said, despite flight operations remaining suspended between the two countries.

Flight operations between India and Pakistan were suspended since February 2019 in the wake of the Balakot air strike by Indian forces. It was only in July 2019 that Pakistan had reopened its airspace for international air traffic after around five months of restrictions, though flights between the two countries are suspended.

However, as per the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) convention, any aircraft can land in any country in life-threatening situations, such as a medical emergency or serious technical faults.