80-Year-Old Man Collapses And Dies At Mumbai Airport Due To Wheelchair Unavailability (image-pixabay)
In an unfortunate incident, an 80-year-old man collapsed and died at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport on Monday. The couple who had arrived from New York on an Air India flight had prebooked wheelchairs, but due to the shortage of wheelchairs at the airport, the couple only received one. The man gave the available wheelchair to his wife and opted to walk beside her.
The senior citizen had to walk around 1.5 km from the plane to the immigration counter where he collapsed due to a heart attack. He was immediately taken to the Mumbai airport and then rushed to Nanavati Hospital later.
As per the TOI report, due to the shortage of the wheelchair at the airport, only one assistant showed up for the couple.
The deceased was identified as an Indian-origin US passport holder. They traveled from New York to Mumbai in economic class on Air India Flight 116. The Airport officials said that there were only 32 wheelchair passengers were on board. But only 15 wheelchairs with accompanying staffs were present on the ground.
The Air India spokesperson further added that they had insisted the passenger to wait till he is provided with wheelchair assistance but he opted to walk along with his spouse.
They have called it an “unfortunate incident” and are in “constant touch with the family members of the bereaved, extending necessary assistance”.
The flight which was supposed to land in Mumbai at 11:30am was delayed and landed at 2:10 pm.
Ground staff said to TOI that he had seen many aged couples who weren’t ready to part away from their spouses and travel alone from the aircraft to the airport terminal. Especially the ones with mobility and hearing issues prefer to stay with each other while moving through the terminal building.
While a senior official said that many passengers who opt for wheelchairs generally do not have any mobility issues. He added that the airlines, including Air India charged for the wheelchair facility, and only those with the medical certificates were provided with wheelchairs for free. But due to the pressure from various groups, the airlines had to take away the medical certificate requirement, he said.
