A four-month-old child took ill and died aboard a Bengaluru-Patna IndiGo flight even as the flight was diverted to Hyderabad on Tuesday.
The baby boy, who suddenly took ill mid-air, was rushed to the Apollo Clinic at the airport but doctors declared him brought dead.
According to sources, the flight, which was on its way to Patna, was diverted after the child's parents alerted the crew about his deteriorating condition. The flight made the landing at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad at 7:30 am.
However, the child died before he could be provided any medical aid at the airport clinic.
The cause of the child's illness was not known, but media reports suggest that the child was troubled due to a breathing problem. The airline officials could not be reached for a comment initially but later released a statement.
Expressing its condolences, the airline’s statement said, "An IndiGo flight 6E 897 operating from Bangalore to Patna was diverted to Hyderabad due to a medical case this morning. The crew along with a doctor on-board attended to an infant. After landing, the infant was immediately rushed to the hospital accompanied by an IndiGo staff member. Unfortunately the infant died."
The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport Police said that it had registered a case under Section 174 of the Code Of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to determine the exact cause of the infant’s death.
An autopsy was conducted and the boy’s body was handed back to the parents.
The Hyderabad airport is one of the best in the country, as in March last year, the RGIA secured the first position in the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) passengers' survey in the 5-15 million passengers per annum (MPPA) category for the year 2016.
While GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL), which oversees the operation of the airport, has provided baby care rooms across the terminal building and also has other medical facilities available at its premises, the four-month-old, unfortunately, could not be saved.