Rider at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad was injured after a large metal plate fell on it from the roof of an air bridge while disembarking from an Air India Express flight on Sunday.
Deepak Adoni, a 63-year-old US citizen, was visiting India on business. He was among the first passengers to exit the flight from Bengaluru when a heavy aluminum sheet, about 7-8 feet long and 2 feet wide, came off the plane’s bridge roof and hit him on the head. Pakistan News Agency reported.
Medical condition
Adoni was reportedly dizzy and having difficulty standing straight. Airport staff and fellow passengers helped him as he leaned against the wall of the plane’s bridge. He was later transferred by ambulance to Apollo Hospital Medical Evaluation.
“At first, I was fine, but within 30 minutes I started feeling dizzy,” he said. He added: “I started stuttering and could not remember my name.”
Medical examinations showed “degenerative changes” in the cervical spine, multi-level disc bulges, and minor head trauma. An MRI was also performed as a precaution.
“Throughout the (MRI) process, I couldn’t stand up, and people had to help me. At some point, when I sat down, the whole room started spinning,” he said.
Doctors later medically cleared him and released him from the hospital. They recommended wearing a neck brace and prescribed it to them Painkillers in his neck and head.
Originally from Adoni, a long-time US resident, said he will remain in India for the time being to monitor his condition and may consider taking legal action.
What did the airport staff say?
Airport officials said maintenance teams conducted a comprehensive safety inspection of all Aerobridge roof panels to prevent similar accidents. They described the incident as isolated.
Airport authorities said: “We deeply regret this unfortunate incident.”
They said they had conducted a “safety inspection of the bridge’s roof panels to prevent this from happening in the future.”
In a somewhat similar incident last year, a piece of a plane fell off when two United Airlines flights collided on the tarmac in Texas, US. Both Flight 544 and Flight 2451 returned to the gate safely. No injuries were reported, passengers were rebooked on alternate aircraft, and United Airlines conducted standard safety checks after the incident.
