A show-cause notice was sent to Air India by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday about an incident in which an 80-year-old man died while walking to the terminal because there was no wheelchair assistance available at the airport.

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In its notification, the DGCA said that the airline had violated Aircraft Rules, 1937, by failing to adhere to the terms of the relevant CAR. Air India has been ordered to respond to the notice within 7 days.

The Passengers Asked For Wheel Chair Assistance

According to media reports, as the 76-year-old Babu Patel and his wife Narmadaben Patel got off Air India’s AI-116 flight from New York, they both asked for wheelchair assistance. But both of them had to walk the 1.5 kilometers or so from the airport to the immigration station since there weren’t enough wheelchairs available. At the time of the immigration procedure, the passenger passed away. Patel was a US passport holder of Indian descent who was flying in economy on Air India aircraft AI-116 from New York to Mumbai.

Air India said that although the passenger was asked to wait for assistance by the airline authorities, he chose to walk instead.

What Did The Air India Officials Say?

On February 12, one of our visitors, who was traveling from New York to Mumbai by plane, became ill while going through immigration with his wheelchair-bound wife. We had asked the customer to wait till he was given wheelchair assistance due to the high demand for wheelchairs, but he chose to walk with his spouse instead, according to an Air India representative.

The official stated that “The traveler was sent to the hospital right away after becoming ill, as instructed by the airport physician tending to him; at the hospital’, he was pronounced dead.

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