Flight makes emergency landing at Indore after toddler falls sick; he dies on way to hospital

A tragic incident unfolded on an Air India Express flight (IX1240) traveling from Jaipur to Bengaluru on Tuesday evening when a one-year-old boy lost his life due to a medical crisis. The flight, which took off at 5:30 PM, was forced to make an emergency landing at Indore’s Devi Ahilyabai Holkar International Airport after the child, Mohammad Abrar, began experiencing severe breathing difficulties mid-air. His parents immediately alerted the cabin crew as his condition rapidly deteriorated.

Upon receiving the distress call around 7:20 PM, the pilot contacted the Indore Air Traffic Control (ATC) to request an emergency medical landing. The airport authorities acted swiftly, declaring a medical emergency and positioning a team of doctors and an ambulance at the aerobridge. While the plane was still in the air, a doctor who happened to be traveling as a passenger on the same flight attempted to revive the toddler using CPR, but the child remained unresponsive.

The aircraft touched down at 7:50 PM, and the airport’s medical staff took over immediately. The child was rushed to a nearby hospital in an ambulance and subsequently referred to Dolphin Hospital for specialized care. However, despite the best efforts of the medical teams both on the ground and in the air, the child was tragically declared dead before he could reach the hospital facility.

Preliminary reports suggest that the child was already feeling unwell before the family boarded the flight in Jaipur. Hospital officials suspect that during the journey, some milk or water might have accidentally entered the child’s windpipe (aspiration), leading to acute respiratory distress.