Maharashtra: 80 year old Air India passenger dies at Mumbai airport due to unavailability of wheelchair

A horrific incident occurred on Monday at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport when an 80-year-old man and his wife, who had arrived on an Air India flight from New York, passed away.

Because there were not enough wheelchairs, the elderly man had to walk 1.5 km from the airport to the immigration counter before collapsing. 

Only the wife received the wheelchair that she had reserved in advance, according to reports. The man was walking with his wife when he suffered a heart attack and fell to the immigration desk.

"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," an Air India official stated. We had asked the customer to wait until he was given wheelchair assistance due to the high demand for wheelchairs, but he chose to walk with his spouse instead. The traveller was sent to the hospital right away after becoming ill, as instructed by the airport physician tending to him, and it was there that he was pronounced deceased.

The deceased was on Air India aircraft AI-116 from New York to Mumbai in economy class. He was recognised as a US passport holder of Indian descent.

On this trip, there were 32 wheelchair users, however, there were only 15 wheelchairs with attendants waiting to assist them on the ground.