A bit more news on SVA's "concern" for their pilots
Captain Khalid Mattar - An airline captain with Saudi Arabian Airlines died of a heart attack which began while on his flight from Jeddah to Dammam yesterday on 05 March 2011 following operational and medical negligence. He passed away yesterday at 12:50 at AlManna Hospital in the Eastern Province. His death was due to Saudi Arabian Airlines negligence, both operationally and medically.
His body arrived in Jeddah on board SV1115 today at 6:00pm; he will be buried tomorrow morning at Fajr in Makkah Insh Allah.
He was 36 years old and has a wife and five children. The funeral 'Azza' will be held in Jeddah at the intersection of Al Tahlia and Makarona streets.
Following a very stressful discussion with the Chief Operations Officer Abdulrahman AlMahboub of Saudi Arabian Airlines at the Flight Operations building at KAIA in Jeddah, Captain Mattar began his flight duty and proceeded to dispatch where he reviewed the flight documents, reviewed the weather, requirements and aircraft status.
The flight he was operating was scheduled to go from Jeddah to Dammam. The takeoff proceeded normally and en route to Dammam Captain Mattar advised the First Officer he was feeling pain in his chest and that he required medical assistance. The First Officer contacted Dammam Air Traffic Control and the Saudi Arabian Airlines Operations advising that medical assistance was required.
When the aircraft landed there was a delay for the medical assistance (even though they were advised of the situation). Following the delay of medical assistance at KFIA airport at Dammam the Captain was carried away in a stretcher. A doctor at the airport checked him and advised that he was OK and just needed to rest. Based on this Captain Mattar was sent to the Sheraton Hotel where he could rest.
(Based on the symptoms and situation the doctor's diagnosis was grossly negligent. The doctor could not positively say he was OK without further medical tests being done, at least an ECG, and the situation should have resulted in giving oxygen and medication while under medical observation).
After arriving at the Sheraton hotel Captain Mattar knew he was not well and requested to proceed to a hospital for medical treatment. He was transported to Tadawi General Hosptial in Dammam. Upon arriving at the hospital Captain Mattar was already immobile and the driver tried to get him out.
Tadawi General Hospital refused to accept Captain Mattar because as they stated 'Saudi Arabian Airlines has some past due bills with the hospital for which they had not been reimbursed and therefore would not admit him'.
Precious time was being wasted trying to get him critical medical care. Pleading with the hospital to accept him because he was dying was ignored and he was taken again through the streets of Dammam to Al Mana General Hospitals. Again, the hospital initially refused to accept the Captain because as they stated 'he has no medical insurance'.
The Sheraton Hotel contacted Al Mana hospital and pleaded with them to please accept the Captain and to charge it to the Sheraton Hotel. Captain Khalid Mattar died at the hospital and was pronounced dead just after midnight.
His family can be reached for confirmation of all these details at:
05054231067 (father of Captain Khalid Mattar)
0531599973 (Ali Mattar - brother)
اخواني الاعزاء سيصل الجثمان الساعة 6 مسا عن طريق الشحن و سيغسل بعد المغرب في مسجد اللامي ..... الدفن غدا الاثنين يصلى علية في المسجد الحرم بمكةفجرا.. صلاة الفجر ..ويرى الجثمان في المعلا... العزاء في جدة تقاطع التحلية مع المكرونة
تلفون والدة 05054231067
تلفون اخوة مساعد طيار علي مطر 0531599973
The fact that emergency medical care was denied while Captain Mattar was having a heart attack is a serious matter. This must be looked at with the hospitals and with the Ministry of Health.
The fact that Saudi Arabian Airlines does not provide appropriate medical coverage to its crew while they are away from Jeddah is another serious issue, in fact it is a violation of many laws of the countries the crew operate to.
Regardless of what may be said Saudi Arabian Airlines does not even provide coverage to their employees or the immediate families of employees who are out of the country and may need emergency treatment. Some people may get the medical treatment paid for by the company if they know someone at Corporate Head Quarters or at Saudia Medical management but for most employees or their families they must pay for any emergency medical treatment from their own funds and make a claim when they get back to Jeddah.
Medical coverage at Saudi Arabian Airlines is seriously lacking for an employer whose motto states "...a caring employer...".