Boeing 787 flight to Mumbai makes emergency landing, passengers hospitalized due to...

A flight from Addis Ababa to Mumbai had to make an emergency landing in the early hours of Friday after several passengers on board suddenly fell ill. According to a report by The Times of India, seven passengers became unwell after the aircraft faced a cabin depressurisation problem while flying over the Arabian Sea.

The incident occurred when the Ethiopian Airlines flight ET640, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, was cruising at an altitude of 33,000 feet. A sudden drop in cabin pressure forced the pilots to quickly descend to a lower altitude to ensure passenger safety. Data from the flight-tracking website Flightradar24 confirmed that the plane had to perform a rapid descent.

The flight landed safely at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport at around 1:42 am. Medical teams at the airport were already on standby and immediately attended to the seven sick passengers. As per the report, one of them was taken to hospital for further treatment. The cause of the incident is yet to be confirmed, and no official statement from the airline or airport authorities has been issued so far.

Similar Incident on Air India Flight Just Days Earlier

Interestingly, this is the second such incident reported in the same week. Just a few days ago, on June 24, a similar situation occurred on an Air India flight from London to Mumbai. On that flight, five passengers and two crew members became sick mid-air. They experienced symptoms like nausea and dizziness, which are often linked to food poisoning or cabin pressure changes.

Air India confirmed the incident and said that some of those affected continued to feel unwell even after landing. They were examined by medical professionals at the airport and later discharged. An airline official, speaking anonymously, suggested that a slow drop in cabin pressure could have been a possible cause, though this has not been confirmed yet.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), India’s aviation regulator, has been alerted about the Air India incident. The DGCA had recently carried out surprise checks at major airports across the country and found several safety issues. It then ordered airlines and airport authorities to fix these problems within a week.

As these back-to-back incidents raise concerns about air travel safety, passengers and experts alike are hoping for thorough investigations and quick improvements to ensure such emergencies are avoided in the future.