A pilot’s medical emergency forced a Citilink airplane to conduct an emergency landing in Surabaya, East Java shortly after take off this morning. Tragically, the pilot passed away.
According to Citilink CEO Dewa Kadek Rai, flight QG307 departed Surabaya’s Juanda Airport for Makassar at 6am today. After 15 minutes in the air, the co-pilot took control of the aircraft after the captain experienced an as-of-yet unspecified medical emergency.
Upon landing, the captain was transported to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Dewa maintains that the airline conducted pre-departure health checks on all crew members and found nothing out of the ordinary.
The airline said a make-up flight took off at 10:45am.
The captain’s body will be transported to his home in Jakarta for his funeral.
