After 82-year old passenger falls due to wheelchair delays, Air India says she arrived late at Delhi airport

An 82-year old Air India passenger who fell and suffered a brain stroke after struggling to get a wheelchair, arrived at Delhi airport along with her family “later than the recommended two hours before departure”, the airline said on Saturday (March 8, 2025).

The airline’s statement comes a day after the 82-year old Raj Pasricha’s family accused Air India of failing to provide a wheelchair on time despite prior booking for such special services.

“The said passenger, travelling with her family members, had arrived at the departure terminal much later than the recommended two hours before departure,” Air India said in a press statement. It added that the injured passenger’s family reported at the desk for persons with reduced mobility, situated outside the passenger building, less than 90 minutes before the scheduled time of departure, to request for a wheelchair.

Check-in for domestic passengers closes 60 minutes before the time of departure, but because of long queues at the entry gate and check-in counters, passengers are advised to arrive earlier.

Wheelchair delay

Ms. Pasricha and her family were booked on a 5 p.m. flight to Bengaluru and reached the assistance desk at around 3:30 p.m., where they waited for 15 to 20 minutes with no wheelchair in sight. With the closing time for check-in approaching, they then decided to proceed towards the counters. That is when the senior citizen fell “face flat” and sustained head and facial injuries, including a bleeding nose, and a cut on her upper lip and tongue.

The family sought first aid at the airport after which the airline offered a wheelchair and fast-track boarding. As the passenger continued to bleed through her journey, she was extended additional medical assistance at Bengaluru airport, where stitches were also administered.

The octogenarian has been in the ICU at the IAF’s Command Hospital in Bengaluru since March 5, after suffering a brain stroke.

Medical advice

Asked how an injured passenger was allowed to board the flight, the airline said that “the doctor’s offer for additional medical attention was not accepted and the guest’s family members insisted on continuing their travel to Bengaluru.” The passenger’s family has flatly denied this.

In such cases, the airport doctor is required to pronounce the passenger fit. If deemed unfit, passengers who still want to continue their journey must give an undertaking to the airport doctor and the airline that they are travelling at their own risk. Ms. Pasricha’s family maintains they were neither given medical advice not to travel, nor were they asked for any such undertaking.

‘Victim-blaming’

Provision of a wheelchair is the joint responsibility of the airport and the airline. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s rules say that “the basic responsibility” lies with the airport, but “airlines may provide extra wheelchairs for the convenience of their passengers”.

“The lady passenger’s ticket endorses her request for Special Service and identifies that she needs a wheelchair till the aircraft. This means that a wheelchair has to be provided after a passenger has followed the booking protocol,” says Vaishnavi Jayakumar of the Disability Rights Alliance. “This is simply a logistics and operational issue and airlines which are highly technologically advanced must follow their own passenger data and ensure proper inventory instead of participating in victim-blaming. A slip and a fall, such as the one in this case, is catastrophic and the airline should not be casual about safety,” she added.

Accessing wheelchairs at Indian airports can be an arduous task. At Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, one has to walk a long distance of 200 to 400 metres from the car drop-off point to the wheelchair assistance desk located at gate number 1 at the corner of the passenger building.

Diverse mobility needs

Airlines also grapple with widespread misuse of wheelchairs, including able-bodied passengers bribing ground staff to avail the services. There is a growing call to better assess diverse mobility needs and offer alternative assistance to those who do not require a wheelchair. For example, Singapore Airlines offers “Meet and Assist” services for passengers with specific needs, including those who are elderly, non-English speaking, or those with sensory or cognitive impairments, who can request for support during boarding, disembarkation, and transfers.

“The problems emanate from a lack of understanding about diverse kinds of mobility challenges that exist. Some may need wheelchairs all the way upto the aircraft, while others may simply have a problem walking long distances within the airport and can be given golf carts. There may be blind persons or those with autism who may also not require a wheelchair, but only some assistance at the airport. A meet and assist service, even if paid, may also help airlines take off some pressure on the limited wheelchair inventory,” Ms. Jayakumar explains.

This has become even more necessary as airports are getting bigger, and the distance to the boarding gates longer, with internal designs that route the passenger through duty-free and other shops, further impeding accessibility, she adds.

Published – March 08, 2025 10:49 pm IST

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