Shafiqul Islam (Shafiq)
The body of Biman Bangladesh Airlines pilot Captain Nowshad Ataul Qayyum arrived in the country on Thursday. His body was brought to Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight BG-026 at 9:10 am. At this time a heartbreaking scene took place at the airport. Relatives and colleagues of the deceased were fainting again and again. The last homage was paid with flowers in the coffin of the deceased. The body of late Nowshad Qayyum was buried at Banani Cemetery after Janazah prayers at Biman Balaka Bhaban after finishing of Johar on Thursday. Many higher level officer were present there.

The Boeing 737-800 aircraft made an emergency landing in Nagpur, India, on its way home from Doha, the capital of Qatar. That flight brought the body of the captain to Bangladesh. State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Mohammad Ali arrived at the airport on Thursday morning to pay his respects to the body of Captain Nowshad. Mahbub Ali and Secretary Mokammel Hossain, MD and CEO of the aircraft Abu Saleh Mostafa Kamal and other senior officials of the Ministry of Aviation.

Captain Nowshad Qayyum died at noon on August 30. His body was later kept in the mortuary of Kingsway Hospital in Nagpur. Earlier on the morning of August 27, Captain Nowshad fell ill while in the Indian skies on his way to Dhaka on a BG-022 flight with more than 100 passengers from Muscat, Oman. He immediately requested the Air Traffic Control (ATC) of Kolkata to make an emergency landing of the flight. At the same time he handed over control of the flight to the co-pilot. Co-pilot Captain Mustakim ordered the Kolkata Air Traffic Control flight to land at the nearest Nagpur airport.

The Boeing 737-800 had 124 passengers on board. They were all safe. On the same day, an eight-member rescue team went to Nagpur on another flight. The plane was brought to Dhaka airport with passengers after midnight that day. After the flight landed, Captain Nowshad was taken to Kingsway Hospital in Nagpur. He was taken to the hospital’s Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) in a coma on August 29 after his condition deteriorated. Nowshad was on ventilation there. Doctors at the hospital said he was bleeding in his brain after a heart attack.
On the night of August 29, two sisters of Captain Nowshad Ataul Qayyum went to Kingsway Hospital in Nagpur. They talked to the doctors and agreed to keep Captain Nowshad’s ventilation system running.

However, after thwarting all the attempts of the doctors, Captain Nowshad left for the land of no return at 11 o’clock on 30th August.