Being a pilot with the Indian Navy for 21 years, Captain Yatan Mahlawat has piloted several emergencies and rescue services. However, a repatriation flight he piloted from Dubai to Kochi on May 16, 2020, has been one of the riskiest in his career, he recalls in an interview with Gulf News. Captain Yatan piloted the Vande Bharat Mission repatriation flight with 75 pregnant women from Dubai to Kochi on May 16, 2020.
Captain Recalls Risky Mission Amid COVID-19 Repatriation Drive In May 2020
After his premature retirement from the Navy in 2016, Captain Yatan joined Air India Express. On 16 May, 2020 he flew Flight IX434, carrying 181 passengers, among which there were 75 pregnant women. This was his second repatriation flight, after he flew the first one from Kuwait to Kochi on May 9, 2020. However, little did he realize that his second flight would be more daunting that flying a bunch of stranded expats clad in PPE suits.
“I was thrilled when I got to know the unusual number of pregnant women boarding the flight,” Captain Mahlawat recalled in an interview with Gulf News. He further added that although the has tackled several missions in the navy, he has never experienced carrying passengers like this. Prior to the flight, the crew took all the necessary precautions, to ensure all the pregnant women were safe and comfortable. However, the biggest concern he recalls, was the worry about what they would do if one of the women go into labour.
Tackling Challenges & Prepping For The Flight
In normal domestic flights, there are airfields where one can make emergency landing. However, this is not the case with international flights. In this case, once you cross Oman, you are flying over the sea for a couple of hours. So, landing is not an option. “It will take at least one to one-and-a-half-hour to hit Kochi or else we have to return”, he said to the Gulf News.
In order to ensure safety, Captain Yatan asked the crew to update him on the status every 10 minutes, as opposed to every 20-30 minutes, as is the protocol. Luckily, three out of four cabin crew members were female, so it gave them more confidence to handle any crisis. Besides, he wasn’t aware that there were two doctors and nurses among the passengers. The Indian Consulate chose medics who wanted to fly home on an emergency basis, specifically for this flight, so there was additional medical aid incase of a crisis. In addition, they also alerted ambulances to remain on standby at the Cochin International Airport.
Thankfully, the flight made a safe landing and the entire team breathed a sigh of relief. Captain Yatan said it was a special feeling after flying a repatriation flight. These flights are especially tough because he was responsible not just for the 75 women, but also their unborn baby. Yatan recalled that his co-pilot, First Officer Arjun Divakaran, was also of great help.
UAE Repatriated More Than 6000 Pregnant Women On Its Vande Bharat Mission
Vande Bharat Mission flights in the UAE began on 7 May 2020. However, after a certain period there was immense pressure to repatriate pregnant women back to their home country. Media was flooded with plea from pregnant women stranded in the UAE, begging to get back home in time for their delivery. Initially, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs did not realize there were so many pregnant women from Kerala, stuck in the UAE, waiting to go back to their home country. The flight from Dubai to Kochi alone had about 6000 pregnant women.
As soon as repatriation flight took off from the UAE, over 150,000 stranded Indians registered and the number rose to 450,000 in no time. The mission also started prioritizing pregnant women who were over 32 weeks pregnant, even if that number was a large one.