Capt. Khaled Mattar experienced chest pains on the flight and handed over control to his first officer, who radioed ahead for medical assistance. Mattar died at 12:50 the following morning at Al-Mana Hospital in Dammam, according to his brother Ali.
Sources within Saudia both called and wrote to Arab News detailing the incident.
“Air crew and ground staff are furious at what happened,” said one source. Written allegations state that Capt. Mattar had had a “very stressful discussion with COO Abdulrahman Al-Mahboub of Saudi Arabian Airlines at the flight operations building at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah.”
The heated discussion had been over proposed new pay structures for pilots. Mattar then began his flight duty and proceeded to the dispatch area where he reviewed the flight documents, checked the weather, the aircraft status and other requirements.
The flight he was in charge of was scheduled to go to Dammam. Takeoff proceeded normally. Between Jeddah and Riyadh, Mattar reportedly told the first officer he was feeling pains in his chest and that he required medical assistance. The first officer, said the source, suggested landing at Riyadh, but Mattar did not wish to land there “for fear of repercussions” and chose to continue to Dammam.
The first officer contacted Dammam Air Traffic Control and Saudia operations advising that medical assistance was required. However, when the aircraft landed there was a delay in medical assistance arriving despite the emergency services had been advised of the situation.
When assistance finally arrived, Mattar was carried off in a stretcher. A doctor at the airport reportedly checked him and advised that there was no problem and that he just needed rest. Based on this diagnosis, Mattar was sent to the Sheraton Hotel for rest.
According to the source, after arriving at the hotel Mattar knew he was not well and wanted to go to hospital for medical treatment. He asked for an ambulance, but was asked to come down to the lobby. He did so and collapsed there. He was then taken to Tadawi General Hospital in Dammam. On arriving, his condition deteriorated to the point where he could not move.
However, the hospital refused to accept Mattar, according to documentation seen by Arab News, because “Saudi Arabian Airlines has some past due bills with us and therefore we will not accept him.”
In the case of heart attacks, time is critical and medical care was urgently needed. Pleas for the hospital to accept him because of his critical condition were ignored, the document continues. He was then taken to Al-Mana General Hospital.
Here too, sources claim, the hospital initially refused to accept Mattar because he had “no medical insurance.” However, the Sheraton Hotel contacted the hospital and pleaded with them to admit him and to charge the hotel. It was, however, too late.
He was pronounced dead just after midnight. Arab News attempted to contact Saudia by telephone and fax for comment, but at the time of going to press has received no response.
