A 72-year-old Indian man travelling from Mumbai to Auckland to meet his son, died in flight, last Friday.
The incident occurred on Friday, February 23, according to the Indian Weekender. Narendra Mafatlal Shah and his wife Pratibha Shah were travelling to Auckland to meet their son.
The couple was onboard Singapore Airlines flight SQ 285.
“My husband started feeling discomfort in breathing just about two hours into the flight from Singapore. We were carrying his nebuliser, but he was feeling too exhausted to use it himself and asked me to seek assistance from the crew in flight. I told an Indian-origin air hostess about his discomfort, as she was the only one who could speak in the Hindi language,” Mrs Pratibha Shah told The Indian Weekender.
Mrs Shah claims she did not receive much compassionate assistance from the crew.
Mr Shah was provided with a blanket and two Panadol tablets, according to Mrs Shah who tried to comfort her husband by gently massaging his chest during the journey.
"It was only towards the end of the journey that my husband wished to go to the toilet, and I assisted him to the toilet and asked to not close it from inside. When he did not come out for 10 minutes, and I could not sense any movement, then I raised the alarm with a fellow Hindi-speaking passenger. The crew opened the door and found my husband lying down with little movement. They attended him then, and a little bit later I was told that a doctor on the plane had attended him but could not save him," Mrs Shah told the Indian Weekender.
A Singapore Airlines spokesperson, Karl Schubert was quoted saying by the Indian Weekender, “A passenger on SQ285 on 23 February 2018 encountered difficulties while the flight was en route to Auckland from Singapore. Our crew, together with medical personnel who were on board, provided assistance to the passenger, but he regrettably passed away. We offer our sincere condolences to the family.”
