Air India faced a high demand for wheelchairs at Mumbais Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport on February 12. Due to this, an 80-year-old (octogenarian) passenger named Babu Patel was asked to wait for a wheelchair, but he decided to walk alongside his wife Narmadaben Patel (age 76) who was sitting in a wheelchair.He collapsed close to the airport health officers office during the immigration process. After being rushed to the hospital he was declared dead. The couple was traveling from New York to Mumbai on flight AI-116.Who is liableOperator MIAL, who is an official at the Mumbai airport has informed that wheelchair assistance is the responsibility of the airlines.Due to this, the DGCA has delivered a show cause notice to Air India. Non-compliance of Aircraft Rules, 1937 with civil aviation requirements provisions and violation has been cited.As per Para 4.1.7 of the CAR, airlines are responsible for providing such passengers with comprehensive assistance. The airlines must ensure that the flyers have a comfortable travel experience starting from the departure terminal and completing at the arrival terminal post the flight.DGCA takes actionAir India was issued a show cause notice on Friday by The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The airline is being questioned as to why they failed to supply a wheelchair promptly to the passenger. Seven days have been provided to submit a response to the notice. Air India must explain why they failed to fulfill regulatory requirements.Additionally, the DGCA has addressed all airlines with an advisory. The airlines have been urged to ensure that a necessary number of wheelchairs are made available. In particular, they were asked to check that passengers are provided the facility during both embarking and disembarking from the flight. The DGCA hopes that this will prevent incidents like this from occurring again.
