Ministry to issue notice to Air India for unavailability of wheelchair to woman
The incident, which occurred on March 4, involved an elderly passenger falling down at the Delhi airport after not receiving a pre-booked wheelchair
New Delhi: Civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu on Monday told Parliament that the ministry was investigating a complaint against Air India for failing to provide a pre-booked wheelchair to an 82-year-old woman passenger at Delhi airport recently. The minister also said that a show cause notice will be issued to Air India for not providing a wheelchair to the passenger.
“We are conducting a detailed inquiry to understand exactly what transpired,” Naidu said.
Responding to supplementary questions during the Rajya Sabha’s question hour, the minister said that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had separately spoken to both the passenger’s family and the airline and that it was reviewing CCTV footage to determine the exact sequence of events.
Describing the incident as very unfortunate, Naidu said that the ministry had promptly taken notice and is thoroughly investigating the matter.
“There are always two sides to a story, one from the family, and the DGCA has gathered the family’s account, and another from the airline. We will issue a show-cause notice to the airline and take appropriate action based on the findings. The CCTV footage will help us clarify the situation. I assure the members that we are looking into the issue,” he said.
The incident, which occurred on March 4, involved an elderly passenger falling at the airport after not receiving a pre-booked wheelchair. Air India, however, in its detailed statement issued on March 8, maintained that the passenger was never denied wheelchair assistance and received first aid immediately.
