A string of mid-air medical emergencies aboard international flights arriving in India has triggered growing concern among flyers, especially frequent travellers, raising urgent questions about aircraft cabin safety and health protocols.
In the latest incident, a Mumbai-bound Ethiopian Airlines flight (ET640) was forced to make an emergency landing at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in the early hours of Friday, after seven passengers onboard reportedly fell ill mid-air.
According to reports, the flight, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, was cruising at 33,000 feet over the Arabian Sea when it experienced a sudden depressurisation of the cabin. As oxygen levels dropped and cabin pressure destabilized, passengers began to feel unwell, prompting pilots to initiate a rapid emergency descent to a safer altitude.
The aircraft made an emergency landing in Mumbai at 1:42 AM, where the airport’s medical response team rushed to assist the sick passengers. One of them was hospitalised, while others received treatment at the airport.
A Troubling Pattern Emerges
What has truly unsettled passengers and aviation observers alike is that this is not an isolated case. Just days earlier, on June 24, a similar incident occurred on an Air India flight (AI 130) from London to Mumbai, where five passengers and two crew members fell ill mid-flight.
Passengers aboard that flight complained of nausea, dizziness, and symptoms resembling food poisoning, prompting fears of contaminated meals or cabin environment issues. Two of the affected individuals required medical attention upon landing, though all were eventually discharged.
An internal probe is ongoing, with one airline official suggesting the possibility of a slow decompression event, which can subtly reduce oxygen levels in the cabin without triggering alarms immediately.
Growing Anxiety Among Flyers
These back-to-back incidents have sparked alarm among frequent flyers, with many voicing concern over cabin pressurization systems, food safety, and overall in-flight emergency preparedness.
Social media platforms and travel forums have seen a surge in discussions, with passengers demanding greater transparency from airlines and regulatory bodies.
DGCA Steps In
In response to these developments, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had already begun random surveillance checks at major Indian airports, even before the latest incident. These surprise audits revealed multiple safety violations, prompting the authority to issue a strict order directing airports and airlines to implement corrective measures within a week.
While the DGCA has confirmed that they have been notified about the Air India and Ethiopian Airlines incidents, industry experts say more stringent oversight is needed, especially in the post-pandemic era, where aircraft maintenance, crew readiness, and food hygiene protocols have come under increasing scrutiny.
Looking Ahead
As investigations continue and authorities assess technical data and passenger reports, public confidence in air safety hangs in the balance. Aviation insiders acknowledge that while in-flight health emergencies can occur sporadically, a sudden rise in such events is unusual and warrants deeper investigation.
For now, regular flyers are left uneasy, hoping that these incidents are anomalies — and not warning signs of systemic lapses in airline safety standards.