80-year-old man, forced to walk due to lack of wheelchair, dies of heart attack at Mumbai airport

Earlier this week, a tragic incident occurred at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport when an elderly man who was not provided with a wheelchair collapsed and died at the immigration counter. The incident took place on Monday when the 80-year-old man arrived from New York on an Air India flight with his wife.

According to reports, the octogenarian, an Indian-origin man holding a US passport, booked the wheelchair facility for him and his wife. However, due to a shortage of wheelchairs, only one assistant was reportedly present at the couple’s side. times of india.

The report quoted sources as saying that when the man’s wife was in a wheelchair, he decided to follow her on foot.

“He must have walked about 1.5 kilometers to reach the immigration area, where he suddenly collapsed due to a heart attack. He was admitted to the Mumbai Airport Medical Facility and from there to Nanavati Hospital.” toy The report cited sources.

The elderly couple were traveling on Air India flight AI-116 from New York to Mumbai, which was scheduled to land at 11.30am on Monday but was postponed to 2.10pm.

According to reports, there were 32 wheelchair passengers on the flight, but only 15 wheelchairs and accompanying staff were waiting on the ground to assist them.

An unnamed ground staff member said: toy According to reports, airlines often find that elderly couples are unwilling to separate from their spouses and travel alone from the plane to the airport terminal.

“Those with limited mobility and hearing problems prefer to be with each other when moving from aircraft through the terminal,” the staff member said.

Air India calls it ‘unfortunate incident’

Clarifying the matter, an Air India spokesperson termed it an “unfortunate incident” and said one of our passengers, who flew from New York to Mumbai on February 12, fell ill while clearing immigration with his wife.

“Due to the high demand for wheelchairs, we had asked the passenger to wait until he was also assisted with a wheelchair, but he chose to walk with his spouse. On the advice of the airport doctor, the passenger was taken to hospital immediately after falling ill and was admitted Proclaimed dead,” the statement said.

The airline stressed that it “has a clear policy to provide wheelchair assistance to every passenger who requests it at the time of booking”, adding that Air India is “in touch with the family of the deceased to provide necessary assistance”.