'His Head Touched the Ceiling': Daughter of Injured Passenger Shares Terrifying Details of Incident on Air India Flight

Jaipur: Palak Raniwala, daughter of the passenger injured on the Air India flight AI2379 operating from Phuket to Delhi after it faced sudden loss of altitude during cruise, recounted the harrowing experience, saying that the turbulence was so severe that it caused passengers, including her father, to touch the ceiling of the aircraft.

Speaking to ANI, Raniwala noted that her mother suffered rib fractures. The adversity of the situation could be determined by how rattled and panicked the pilots and flight attendants were. "It was a traumatic experience. My father was sitting next to me, and when this happened, his head touched the ceiling. It was a terrifying experience for all of us. It's not that sudden drops haven't happened before; they might have occurred on other airlines--but never before had a pilot warned us beforehand about what to do or not do, or mentioned potential issues. The flight attendants were panicking, and the pilot himself seemed rattled--you could hear the nervousness in his voice. The whole situation left us terrified. My mother also suffered rib fractures," he said.

Shrikant Jha, son-in-law of the injured passenger, lashed out at Air India and airport authorities over a total absence of emergency response coordination upon landing. Jha explained that roughly ninety minutes to two hours into the journey, a sudden disturbance lasting around ten seconds triggered a sharp drop in altitude, causing severe injuries when passengers struck cabin fixtures like armrests.

"We had boarded the Air India flight, and about an hour and a half or two hours into the journey, there was a sudden disturbance lasting maybe ten seconds, followed by a sharp drop in altitude. My mother-in-law suffered a severe injury from the armrest--she ended up with fractured ribs. Many people were injured," he said.

"The biggest issue was the lack of proper coordination; neither the airport authorities nor Air India had made any arrangements. It doesn't seem like any such information was relayed, because the staff on the ground appeared completely clueless. There was no senior Air India staff present, nor any senior airport staff," he criticised the airline.

Jha emphasised that the standard emergency procedures, including the availability of ambulances and medical staff on the ground after receiving information of such an emergency, were ignored. "Normally, in an emergency like this, if the pilot informs ground control about the problem, ambulances should be pre-arranged, and doctors should be on standby. There should have been people there to assist. There wasn't even an arrangement for water. We aren't aviation experts; we can't say whether it was pilot negligence or a natural cause. It could be anything; most likely, it was a natural cause," he said.

After the incident, 13 passengers and four crew members sustained injuries and were taken to hospital for medical evaluation. An Air India spokesperson said on Tuesday, "Earlier today, Air India flight AI2379 operating from Phuket to Delhi experienced a sudden loss of altitude during cruise. After the momentary event, the aircraft continued normally and landed safely in Delhi at 11:07 hrs IST."

The Airbus A320neo aircraft was carrying 137 passengers and eight crew members. Of these, 13 passengers and four crew members sustained injuries and were taken to hospital for medical evaluation. As of 18:50 hrs on August 4, five passengers have been discharged, while the remaining individuals continue to receive treatment and care, the airline said. 

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