Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) on Friday helped a family facing a health crisis in the air.

An MIA statement said the Air India Express plane from Kannur and Sharjah made an emergency landing at MIA on December 3 after a female passenger (aged 33) suffered cardiac arrest and respiratory problems. The woman, her husband and their three children were traveling to Sharjah from Kannur.

Following the alert received from the commander of flight IX-745 concerning this medical emergency on board at 9:21 a.m., MIA and the other parties concerned were put on alert to deal with the situation.

A doctor with the Airport Health Organization examined the passenger on the plane after it landed at 10 a.m. After seeing that she was stable, all of the woman’s family members were escorted to a private hospital in Mangaluru for treatment within 17 minutes.

A senior MIA official was in constant contact with airline officials, staff from the ground assistance agency who escorted the passenger to the hospital and the doctors treating her at the hospital.

After medics confirmed the passenger was out of danger and had recovered, the senior MIA official extended his assistance with the family’s travel to Sharjah.

Upon arrival from the hospital, the family was given priority to pass mandatory RT-PCR tests and other regulatory clearances at the airport. The statement said the family left MIA in Sharjah at 11 p.m.