Air India Flyer Suffers 'Second-degree Burn' After Crew Member Spills Hot Water, Leaves it Unattended

A woman travelling on an international flight with her four-year-old son and 83-year-old mother-in-law, suffered a “second-degree burn” on her leg after an attendant spilled hot water on her and left it unattended. Air India, however, issued an apology and said it had taken serious note of the incident.

According to a report published by Hindustan Times, the passenger described her harrowing experience on social media, where she said the injury eventually left her bedridden. She indirectly slammed the airline saying the incident had proven the crew’s “lack of training and professionalism”.

The woman, identified as Charu Tomar who was on a flight bound for San Francisco from Delhi, said she felt excruciating pain on her right leg after the crew member hot spilled hot water on her right leg. “To my shock, the crew members initially ran away from the situation,” she said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

Tomar said the crew was slow in their response to the situation and made inadequate efforts to resolve it despite her pleas to give her something to ease her pain. She said she had to “scream and cry for help” when a doctor on board offered her medical aid and diagnosed her with a second-degree burn. “However, the flight lacked essential medical supplies, and the treatment was far from ideal I endured severe pain for nearly two hours in flight with no pain medication or proper first aid kit available,” she added.

Tomar further said a team of paramedics had to evacuate her as the crew was least interested in providing her care. Her family members were also left unattended, she said.

Air India apologised and said the crew “immediately” administered first aid to the passenger. “The crew immediately administered first aid to the guest and paged for a doctor on board, who attended to the affected guest. A team of paramedics assisted the guest upon arrival at San Francisco. We have expressed our sincere apologies to the guest, whom our teams have been in touch with to offer all further assistance including medical care,” said a spokesperson from the airline.