In a shocking incident, a passenger onboard an Air India flight suffered burns after a cabin crew member accidentally spilt coffee on her. The incident occurred on a flight from the national capital (New Delhi) to San Francisco earlier this month. Following the incident, the airline has apologised.
The Passenger experienced a distressing experience
Narrating her experience on social media the passenger said, “Air India delivered distressing experience that took a harrowing turn when the flight attendant spilled hot water on my leg”. “I was travelling from New Delhi to SFO on Flight AI 173 with my 4-yr-old son and 83-yr-old mother-in-law. The flight lasted approximately 16 hrs, and it was nothing short of a nightmare,” the passenger said in a long thread posted on social media platform X on September 27.
The flight lacked essential medical supplies
Further, the passenger informed that she was in excruciating pain and a physician on the plane offered assistance. The physician diagnosed the “injury as a second-degree burn and attempted to provide care. However the flight lacked essential medical supplies, and the treatment was far from ideal I endured severe pain for nearly two hours in flight with no pain medication or proper first aid kit available,” the passenger said in the thread.
Airline has apologised
“We sincerely regret the unfortunate incident that occurred on our flight AI 173 operating Delhi-San Francisco on 20 September 2023. One of our cabin crew members accidentally spilt coffee on a guest during service,” an Air India spokesperson said in a statement on Friday.
Hot water or coffee?
While the passenger claimed that the crew spilt hot water, the airline said coffee was spilt. The airline said the crew immediately administered first aid to the guest and paged for a doctor on board, who attended to the affected guest.
“We have expressed our sincere apologies to the guest, whom our teams have been in touch with to offer all further assistance, including medical care. We have taken serious note of the incident, and will ensure to retrain the crew member on our standard procedures to avoid such an incident in the future,” the spokesperson said.
The crew did not attend to the family members upon landing
According to the passenger, upon landing, the paramedic team evacuated her from the plane, and the crew did not attend to the family members, leaving them alone and unaware of what was happening. “It was only with the help of a kind fellow passenger that my mother-in-law was able to contact my brother, who came to pick them up,” the passenger claimed.
The passenger also urged the airline to take immediate steps to rectify these issues and provide better care and services to its passengers in the future.
(with inputs from PTI)
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