Hot water scalds flyer, airline says it offered her help

MUMBAI: A

SpiceJet

flight attendant served scalding hot water to a senior citizen, who couldn’t hold the glass and spilled the contents onto a woman passenger seated next to him. The woman, who was travelling on work, sustained over 20% burn injuries on her thigh, which forced her to take leave and stay put in Cochin to recuperate. She sought compensation from the airline, which she said was denied.


The incident occurred on March 28 onboard Mumbai-Kochi flight SG-153. Navita Singh (name changed on request) was in the last row on seat 32F. “An elderly man seated beside me had asked the air hostess for hot water. Had they served him warm water instead or not topped up his glass, this incident wouldn’t have occurred,” Singh said.

“I was in such pain that I instinctively stood up and approached the cabin crew, who were in the

galley

just behind. They gave me ice cubes. I lifted my palazzo pants, and stood there in the galley applying ice to the wound,” she said. “I could not sit because the hot water had peeled two patches of skin on the front and back of my thigh, exposing flesh,” she said. “With each minute, the pain intensified. I requested them to make an announcement to find out if there was a doctor on board, among passengers. Neither did they make the announcement nor did the cabin supervisor in charge come to see me.”

She said that on landing, she had to walk down the aircraft, carrying her suitcase. “The airline did not extend any support. Cochin airport officials helped me with my check-in bag. The doctor on call at the airport asked me to go to hospital,” Singh said.

Photographs of the burn injury she took later shows a large patch of flesh. “It took me a month to recuperate,” she said. “I wrote to the airline, which refused to pay compensation and just emailed an apology.”

Supreme Court advocate Pallav Mongia, who handles consumer rights cases, said, “The (incident) is a lot graver than mere ‘deficiency of service’. If you serve boiling water in a container which nobody can hold, then the fault is of the airline and not the co passenger.”

SpiceJet, in its response, said it had confirmed with the senior citizen whether he needed hot water or warm water. “To ensure that the water doesn’t spill, extra care was taken and hence the crew handed only half a glass of hot water,” the airline said. Singh refuted the version, saying that the extent of her injuries proves that more than half a glass of hot water was served.