Air India Heart Attack Case: DGCA Fines Rs 30 Lakh After Passenger Collapsed

Air India has been fined Rs 30 lakh by the DGCA on Thursday. The fine was imposed for an incident on February 12 at Mumbai airport, where an 80-year-old passenger collapsed and died after walking from the plane to the terminal due to the unavailability of a wheelchair. The regulatory body imposed the penalty, citing Air India's failure to provide assistance to the elderly passenger.

Air India Heart Attack Incident

According to a senior official at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Thursday said a penalty of Rs 30 lakh has been imposed on Air India as it failed to provide any wheelchair to the elderly passenger.

"Further, Air India did not inform about any action taken by the airline against the erring employee(s) and the airline also failed to submit any corrective actions taken to prevent the recurrence of such incidents in the future," the official said.

Earlier this month, the DGCA issued a show cause notice to the carrier, which received a response from the airline on February 20. In its submission, the airline stated that the elderly passenger expressed a preference to walk alongside his wife, who was also using a wheelchair, rather than waiting for an additional wheelchair.

The DGCA official also said, "An advisory has also been issued to all airlines to ensure that an adequate number of wheelchairs are available for passengers who require assistance during embarking or disembarking from the aircraft during their journey."