Overview
- A large aluminium panel from a jet bridge’s false ceiling fell and hit 63-year-old U.S. citizen Deepak Adoni as he exited an Air India Express flight at Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport.
- Airport staff and fellow traveler Zainab Sayed helped Adoni, and an ambulance took him to Apollo Hospital for CT and MRI scans.
- Imaging noted cervical spine degeneration, multilevel disc bulges, and minor head trauma, and doctors later discharged him with a neck brace and pain medication.
- Airport authorities expressed regret, said maintenance teams inspected aerobridge ceiling panels, and called the episode an isolated incident, while operator GMR did not immediately comment.
- Adoni says he will stay in India to watch his symptoms and may pursue legal action, a move that could increase scrutiny of how airports inspect and maintain passenger walkways.