Infant develops medical issues on flight, dies later

HYDERABAD: An IndiGo flight from Bengaluru to Patna was diverted to the city’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA), on Tuesday, after a four-month-old boy developed health complications on board. The infant was rushed to the Apollo clinic at RGIA where, according to police, he was declared brought dead.

The Patna-bound IndiGo flight 6E 897, took off from Bengaluru at 6.09 am. An hour-and-half later (at 7.29am) the flight was diverted to the Shamshabad facility as baby Sparsh, who was travelling with his parents, Sandeep Kumar and Puneeta Sharma, developed breathing problems, RGIA SI Venkateswarulu said. By the time the flight landed in the city, authorities had made necessary arrangements to attend to the ailing infant.




“The flight crew requested for an ambulance and a local doctor to meet at the airport. After landing, the infant was immediately rushed to the hospital,” read a statement issued by IndiGo Airline. Expressing grief over the unfortunate demise of the child, IndiGo passed on its deepest condolences to the family.

Sources from the Apollo clinic confirmed the incident. “The baby was brought to the emergency room of the Apollo clinic at RGIA around 7.45am. On examination, doctors confirmed that he was brought dead. While the actual cause of his death is not known, the doctors attending to the baby noticed slight bleeding from his nose,” said a source from the hospital.

The flight resumed its onward journey after a brief stopover in the city and reached Patna at 9.55 am, one hour five minutes behind schedule. According to police, the boy’s family is from Patna and his father Sandeep Kumar is a software professional working in Bengaluru. “We have registered a case of suspicious death under Section 174 of the CrPC. After the post-mortem, the body will be handed over to parents,” the SI said.

Meanwhile, speaking about travelling with infants, city doctors said how parents must take some precautionary measures to avoid an untoward incident. “Any infant aged over two months can travel by air provided the child is not suffering from any major illness, other than mild fever. Many a times, a mother makes the mistake of feeding a child during the flight without knowing that it can cause aspiration, with solid or liquid food entering the airway and lungs,” said Altaf Naseem, director, Candy Children's Hospital.