Family of pilot who died in cockpit says no ailment history

Mumbai As the family of Qatar Airways Pilot Captain Ajay Kukreja, who died last week in the cockpit while flying from Manila to Doha, had a chautha ceremony at their Santacruz residence on Saturday, relatives said Kukreja had no history of heart ailment.
“He had cleared his medicals 15 days prior to the flight. The cardiac arrest happened in the cockpit. All possible medical help was provided when the plane landed at Kuala Lumpur Airport,” said a relative. Kukreja was declared dead at the Kuala Lumpur Airport.
It is extremely rare for a pilot to pass away in the cockpit although there have been instances of pilots becoming incapacitated during flights.
Passengers on the Manila-Doha flight were unaware of the death of their pilot and Qatar Airways was able to change its crew only at the Kuala Lumpur Airport. “This would have been an emergency situation, not a danger situation. There is an emergency procedure which ensures that co-pilots land the flight safely in case the commander is incapacitated,” said Captain Girish Kaushik.
Aviation safety expert A Ranganathan said this underlined the importance the industry must place in the training of co-pilots.
“We must ensure that we do not cut corners in training. We must train our co-pilots in such a manner that they are able to land and take off from the very beginning. Currently, according to a DGCA circular, co-pilots are not allowed to land on their own until they have completed 300 hours of flying on that aircraft,” Ranganathan said.
18/10/10 Express India

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Categories: Foreign Oct 2010, Safety Oct 2010