On Monday, an 80-year-old man passed away at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai. He and his spouse had arrived in the city on an Air India flight from New York. The man died.
The old man collapsed after walking 1.5 km from the airport to the immigration office since there weren’t enough wheelchairs.
According to reports, only the wife was given the wheelchair that she had pre-ordered.
The man collapsed to the immigration desk after having a heart attack while strolling with his spouse. “One of our guests flying from New York to Mumbai on February 12th fell ill while proceeding to clear immigration with his wheelchair-bound wife,” a spokesperson for Air India said. Because of the overwhelming demand for wheelchairs, we had requested the customer to wait until he was provided assistance in using one, but he opted to walk with his spouse. The airport doctor attending to the traveler advised that he be taken to the hospital immediately upon feeling ill, and it was there that he was declared dead.
The deceased was traveling in economy class on Air India flight AI-116 from New York to Mumbai. He was acknowledged as an Indian-born US passport bearer.
“On this flight, there were 32 wheelchair passengers, but only 15 wheelchairs with accompanying staff on the ground waiting on ground to help them,” a person familiar with the airport told TOI.
According to an Air India spokesman who spoke with TOI, the airline keeps in touch with families to provide any necessary support.
“We’ve often found that elderly couples aren’t comfortable parting with the spouse and travelling from the aircraft to the airport terminal alone,” a member of the ground personnel told TOI. Individuals with hearing or movement impairments often form groups when boarding the plane and moving through the airport building.
The plane was supposed to land in Mumbai at 11:30 am, but it was said to have been delayed and to have landed around 2:10 pm.
