A 70-year-old man died after his denture and lower jaw got dislodged mid-air during a flight and got stuck in the back of his throat, blocking his windpipe. The Mumbai-Amritsar SpiceJet flight had to be diverted to Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) and the passenger was rushed to a clinic at the airport, but could not survive.
“Due to a blocked airway, the passenger couldn’t breathe. His body had turned blue depicting lack of oxygen,” said Dr Prabhanjan Shakunt, medical officer, Medanta’s airport clinic.
The incident took place on November 30 on Spicejet flight SG 438 from Mumbai to Amritsar that had 176 passengers on board. The passenger, a native of Jalandhar, was travelling with his wife and son, police said.
“The fight landed at T-1 in a medical emergency. Medanta Hospital gave him first aid but he could not survive. We have initiated the inquest proceeding,” DCP (airport) Sanjay Bhatia said.
According to the doctor, he also suffered from co-morbid conditions such as hypertension, diabetes and half of his body was already paralysed, making it a difficult case to handle.
“When he was brought to us, his tongue was already blue and his heart had stopped. Two doctors on board had already given him cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR), which didn’t work. We also performed CPR for about an hour after he came to us but to no avail,” Shakunt added.
After the deboarding of the passenger and his relatives, the flight again took off for Amritsar.
“SG 438 had experienced a medical emergency during cruise. The patient was attended by cabin crew and passenger doctors. Considering the condition of the patient and as advised by the passenger doctors, the crew diverted to Delhi. After landing, the patient was attended by doctor and ambulance and was escorted, along with family members to Medanta clinic,” said a SpiceJet spokesperson.