Cardiologist dies in plane crash near Chicago
A small plane crash outside Chicago claimed the lives of three physicians Oct. 12, including a cardiologist from Kansas.
Marla Javaid, MD, an interventional cardiologist at Providence Medical Center in Kansas City; Tausif Rehman, MD, a neurosurgeon at Stormont-Vail HealthCare in Topeka, Kan.; and Ali A Kanchwala, MD, a pulmonologist and Javaid’s husband, also from Stormont-Vail HealthCare, were aboard a twin-engine Beechcraft Baron when it crashed in a vacant lot in Palos Hills.
The plane had taken off from Midway International Airport in Chicago that evening and was scheduled to land at Lawrence, Kan., the hospitals announced. According to the Chicago Tribune, Rehman, a licensed pilot, was flying the plane. The craft had taken off five minutes before crashing in a small field. It did not put out a distress call, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
Javaid joined Providence Medical Center in 2008. She was 37, her brother, Bilal Javaid told the Tribune. “She had a wonderful life, it just ended tragically,” he said.
The NTSB is investigating the cause of the accident.