They bade a happy goodbye to their family in the US and left for a vacation in India, not knowing that it was their last flight together. On 12 February 2024, the couple got separated in an unfortunate incident after a long flight from New York to Mumbai. The 80-year-old Indian American man collapsed and died leaving his 76-year-old wife alone, on arrival at Mumbai International Airport. Their decades-long togetherness came to an end.
The post-arrival wheelchair assistance was pre-booked for the elderly couple, according to reports. But they got only one wheelchair due to a shortage of the service at Mumbai Airport. He followed his wife on the wheelchair and walked nearly 1.5km to the immigration counter. All of a sudden, he sank to the floor due to a heart attack during the immigration process. He was immediately taken to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead to the utter dismay of his spouse and the airline officials.
A spokesperson of Air India condoled the unpleasant demise of the passenger, offered to provide assistance to his family, and said, “There was a heavy demand for wheelchairs. We requested the passenger to wait till a wheelchair was available for him but he opted to walk along with his spouse.” Justifying the shortage of wheelchairs at that particular time, an airport official told the media that as many as 32 of the total passengers aboard the Air India flight from New York had requested wheelchair assistance, but only 15 wheelchairs with accompanying staff were available on ground.”
“It is highly recommended passengers contact their operating airlines within 48 hours prior to scheduled departure and obtain reconfirmation of the special inflight or on-ground service (s) that they request during or after booking their international travel. However, any special service on ground, though pre-booked and confirmed before or on the day of travel, is not guaranteed given the magnitude of both passenger traffic and demand for the same service at any given time,” said the chief travel advisor of Indian Eagle, a trusted air-ticketing partner of Indians in America.
“The mishap to the octogenarian traveler could have been averted given the availability of paid special assistance facilities at major Indian airports these days,” said Sourav Agarwal, the Editor of Travel Beats, a one-stop portal for updated information on US-India travel, international aviation, transit stopovers, US visa and immigration.
Long-haul international travel demands extra care and comfort for senior citizens. Reportedly, the ill-fated Indian American travelled in Economy. Fatigued after hours of flying across different time zones in Economy Class, he succumbed to the stress of walking at the airport. He or his family could have checked for an upgrade from economy to a premium cabin with the airline or their travel agent at least a few days before departure. Besides, not many travelers are in the know of Air India Upgrade Plus, an easy-to-use cabin upgrade program.
Mumbai CSMI Airport has a dedicated wheelchair assistance desk near Departure Gate 1 and the information desk in arrival, Terminal 2. Mumbai Airport’s paid special assistance service for those with mobility issues can be booked over the phone (Terminal 1 – 91-86 5704 2448 | Terminal 2 – 91-86 5704 2440). In addition, major Indian airports including Mumbai Airport (BOM) offer paid Meet and Greet Service to make the departure, arrival, or transit as stress-free as possible for senior citizens, unaccompanied minors, and differently-abled travelers.
Taking account of the incident as an eye-opener, the DGCA directed all airlines to ensure sufficient provision of wheelchairs at the airports where they operate flights to and from. The DGCA, India’s civil aviation regulator, did also urge airlines to provide assistance to passengers with special needs and mobility issues during onboarding and deboarding processes so that similar events are not repeated in the future.
