Manila-bound flight diverted to Mumbai, but passenger dies

Philippines Airlines flight PR 657 from Abu Dhabi made a detour to Mumbai on Friday, after a medical emergency, but 34-year-old passenger could not be revived, despite the efforts of the airport’s medical team

A Philippines Airlines flight, PR 657 from Abu Dhabi to Manila, made an emergency detour to Mumbai in the wee hours of Friday, due to a medical emergency on board.

This detour turned out to be a stopover of five hours, as a passenger required urgent medical attention. However, his life could not be saved.

Representational picture

Soon after the flight landed at Mumbai airport, the MIAL (Mumbai International Airport Limited) medical team attended to the passenger. “The passenger was already receiving CPR on board without any signs of recovery and the MIAL medical team continued CPR and other lifesaving efforts for another 20 minutes. However, the passenger could not be revived, and was declared dead at 5 am on Friday,” said an MIAL official.

As the pilot readily took the responsibility of flying the body in the aircraft, the flight was able to push back at around 9.42 am along with the body of the deceased.

An official from Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA), requesting anonymity, confirmed the same.

“There was a medical emergency on board a Philippine Airlines flight PR 657 (Abu Dhabi to Manila) which was diverted to CSIA today morning. Passenger Dennis Ramirez Escano (34), a male citizen of the Philippines, who was travelling from Abu Dhabi to Manila, apparently became unresponsive before landing at CSIA,” said the official.

As a standard operating procedure, the Sahar police station was also informed, after which an official immediately reached the spot. Speaking to mid-day, a senior inspector from Sahar police station said, “We had gone to the airport after we received the information, but the captain wanted to take the body without initiating any police case here, and so we handed over the body to the captain.”

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