Qatar plane makes emergency landing, pilot dies of heart attack

KUALA LUMPUR (Star) - A Qatar Airways aircraft enroute from Manila to Doha made an emergency landing at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Wednesday, after one of its pilots died of a heart attack mid-air.

A spokesman for the airways said the pilot, a 43-year-old Indian national, complained of chest pains and the co-pilot requested to land at KLIA around 11.30am.

"The plane, an A330 Airbus with about 250 passengers on board, landed here while a medical team was on standby.

"The pilot was pronounced dead and the airlines took immediate steps and changed the entire crew before the aircraft took off at 1.15pm," he said.

Sepang police chief Supt Zahedi Ayub, when contacted, said the pilot's body was taken to the Serdang Hospital for a post mortem and the results showed that he had died of heart failure.