The wheelchair shortage highlights the safety risks of accessibility policies at airports and airlines. Photo / Getty Images
The wheelchair shortage highlights the safety risks of accessibility policies at airports and airlines. Photo / Getty Images
A trip from New York to Mumbai ended in tragedy for a couple in India this week.
The tragic events unfolded upon arrival in the city, with 80-year-old traveller Babu Patel passing away at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport due to a logistical issue with the airport’s wheelchair availability, coupled with the passenger’s insistence on staying beside his wife.
The couple had flown from John F Kennedy International Airport in New York to Mumbai, Maharashtra state’s capital, on Air India flight AI-116, which was delayed, eventually landing at 2.10pm instead of 11.30am as scheduled.
Both travellers had been booked as wheelchair passengers, a standard procedure for flyers who need mobility assistance. However, when the aeroplane arrived in Mumbai, they were provided with only one wheelchair.
An anonymous airport source, reported by Times of India, said that although there were 32 wheelchair passengers booked on the flight, upon landing there were only 15 staff-appointed wheelchairs available.
Patel wanted to let his wife take priority and use their single wheelchair, choosing to walk instead, in what proved to be a fatal decision.
“In an unfortunate incident, one of our guests flying from New York to Mumbai on February 12, fell ill while proceeding to clear immigration with his wife, who was in a wheelchair,” explained a spokesperson. “Due to heavy demand for wheelchairs, we had requested the passengers to wait until he was also provided with wheelchair assistance, but he opted to walk along with his spouse.”
Air India is the country's flag-carrier airline. Photo / AP
Following the walk from the plane to the terminal — around 1.5km — the octogenarian collapsed upon reaching the immigration counter. He was then taken to the airport’s medical facility with what was suspected to be a heart attack. The US passport holder was then transferred to the private Nanavati Max Super Speciality Hospital where he was declared dead.
Air India is receiving considerable criticism about the chain of events that led to the death.
Disability rights activists have criticised the airline and airport, and are calling for the use of Special Service Request Codes — which discretely provide important passenger information to staff — to help distinguish between ambulatory (those who can walk sometimes) and non-ambulatory wheelchair users.
The incident highlights how dangerous equipment shortages can be, as well as the increasing demand for mobility assistance and accessibility as people living with disabilities travel amidst the tourism surge worldwide.
India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation — the government’s regulatory body — has issued a show-cause notice to the airline, reports NDTV, citing the mandatory Civil Aviation Requirement which states all passengers with disability or reduced mobility must be assisted.
It’s not the first time India’s airlines have been in the spotlight for their wheelchair policies.
In December 2023 Arman Ali, a disability rights activist, told the Times that four people were required to carry him from his aeroplane seat down the stairs of the aircraft following a Delhi-Guwahati flight, because the airline would not let him bring his personal wheelchair on board. That same month, Mumbai activist Virali Modi said she was forgotten by IndiGo’s cabin crew after landing, alerting cleaning staff of the situation and waiting a further 40 minutes for assistance.
They join the rash of reports around the world from wheelchair users criticising airlines, airports and travel providers.
