4-month-old baby dies aboard flight from Surat to Mumbai

A four month old girl died on board a SpiceJet Surat-Mumbai flight on Friday. A post-mortem investigation could not establish the cause of death and samples from body tissues have been sent to Sir JJ Hospital.

Riya, who was with her mother
Preeti Jindal and grandparents, lost consciousness on board without her family
realising it, according to airline sources.

According to airport sources, Riya
and her mother were taken to the airport medical room after the flight landed
in Mumbai.

“The infant did not respond to
cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), after which she was rushed to a nearby
private hospital, where she was declared dead,” said an airport official.

The child was taken to Nanavati
Hospital where she was declared dead before admission. Officials from the
hospital refused to comment.

The flight took off from Jaipur
for Mumbai via Surat. The family boarded the flight from Surat.

Sources in the airline said, “The
mother told doctors that she had fed her daughter around 5.30 am after which
the baby went to sleep. The family noticed there was no movement from the child
on board, but did not report it to the crew, assuming the child was asleep.” As
the aircraft was slowly ready for the take-off after landing in Mumbai, the
family realised that the child was still unresponsive, reported it to the crew,
after which emergency medical assistance was requested.

A SpiceJet spokesperson, in a
statement, said: “After landing, a passenger informed the crew that her
daughter is unconscious. ATC was requested for medical assistance. The infant
was deplaned along with her mother and grandparents and taken to hospital.”

Sources said infant was taken to
Dr  RN Cooper Municipal General Hospital for a post-mortem, which could not
establish the cause of death.

“An accidental death report was
registered, after which the infant was taken to Cooper hospital for a
post-mortem. As the cause of death was found to be unknown, the samples were
sent to JJ hospital for further investigation.”