Pilot Gohtiong Chuan, of Singapore Airlines’s Calcutta-Singapore flight, fell ill minutes before the flight was to take off from Calcutta airport late on Wednesday. The flight, carrying 187 passengers, was deferred for 14 hours and the craft was finally flown out by another pilot.

The flight from Singapore landed at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport at 10.40pm and was scheduled to take off at 11.50pm. “Since it was a turnaround flight, the pilot stayed on board, as is the norm,” a Singapore Airlines official said.

Regular airport procedure — issuing boarding passes and conducting security checks for passengers — was carried out and the aircraft was ready to take off by 11.15pm. It was then that the pilot complained of dizziness, nausea and uneasiness.

“Before the aircraft prepares for take-off, it is pushed from the parking bay with a tow bar — a process called pushback. We were worried when the pilot was not asking for the pushback even after all the passengers had boarded the plane. Then, the airline officials on board informed us that the pilot had fallen ill and we swung into action,” said an airport official.

A team of doctors, led by the airport health officer (AHO), rushed to the cockpit and examined the pilot. The doctors said he was suffering from hypertension. He was prescribed medication and asked not to fly.

“Chuan was put up at a hotel, after being kept under observation for some time,” the airline official said. The passengers were informed about the cause of delay around 1am.

The passengers were later put up at a city hotel. Another pilot was flown in from Bangkok, and he flew out the 170 passengers on Thursday afternoon.

Chuan flew back on the same flight as a non-operating staff member. Airline officials said some of the passengers were accommodated on an earlier flight.