Indian air ambulance makes emergency landing in Bangladesh; patient dies

An Indian woman has died after the air ambulance carrying her made an emergency landing in Bangladesh following a technical fault that caused the aircraft’s door to partially open mid-air, local media reported.

The Beechcraft King Air C90A aircraft, registered as VT-HYA, was flying from Agartala to Kolkata on Sunday (October 18, 2026) when it encountered the problem while climbing through 12,000 feet, the state-owned BSS news agency reported.

The aircraft landed safely at Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at around 1:40 p.m. local time, with seven people on board, including two pilots, a patient, a doctor, a paramedic and two companions, the report said.

The patient, identified as 56-year-old Anjana Bhowmik, was taken to Kurmitola Multicare Specialised Hospital, where doctors declared her dead, the Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported. All other occupants of the aircraft were safe, it said.

The exact circumstances surrounding the patient’s death remain unclear, and it is not known whether her death was linked to the aircraft’s technical malfunction or other medical complications.

Md. Riaz Uddin, spokesperson for the executive director of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, told The Daily Star newspaper that the aircraft developed a mechanical problem during the flight, causing its door to open.

Airport Police Station Officer-in-Charge Kamrul Hasan Talukder told the newspaper that Ms. Bhowmik died at the hospital on Sunday at 4:40 p.m. local time.

Bangladeshi authorities assisted the air ambulance on humanitarian grounds despite lacking the required clearance for an international landing, BSS reported. The Indian High Commission in Dhaka coordinated with Bangladeshi officials to facilitate the necessary diplomatic formalities, it said.

The aircraft was operated by India’s SKB Infracon Pvt Ltd and remained at Dhaka airport as authorities worked to resolve the clearance issues, The Daily Star reported.