A flight arranged to bring a 13-year-old boy who suffered a stroke from Gaaf Alif Villingili to Male' was unable to fly from Kadhdhoo to Kooddoo because the aircraft's wheel was damaged, Adhadhu has learned.
Mohamed Jaah Khalid passed away yesterday while undergoing treatment at the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) after he was airlifted to Male' on a chartered flight on Thursday evening. He was a brain tumor patient. The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party-majority (MDP) Parliament has since launched an inquiry amid public anger over the incident.
Instead of the chartered flight that carried Jaah to Male', Maldivian first arranged the 162 flight that flew to Kadhdhoo. The flight was unable to travel to Kooddoo due to a last-minute technical problem, Aasandha said in a statement released in English as the government faced criticism from the public.
However, neither Maldivian nor the government revealed details of the technical problem faced by the flight.
"When Maldivian 162 was checked before departure after it landed in Kadhdhoo, the wheel was scraped very much to the point of rupture. The flight won't be permitted to leave in that condition. So that's why the flight was really grounded and kept for an hour or two," a source with knowledge of the matter told Adhadhu on the condition of anonymity.
There were no spare wheels or technicians at Kadhdhoo, which was the reason for the delay in the flight's departure. The aircraft was able to fly after a new wheel and technicians arrived on the 164 flight in the late afternoon on Thursday and replaced the wheel.
After the flight arranged for the evacuation of the Villingili patient in critical condition faced this problem, a chartered flight was arranged and the boy was brought to the Velana International Airport at 5:15 pm. He was then taken to IGMH.
Following his death, national carrier Maldivian changed operating procedures to prioritize emergency medical evacuations ahead of scheduled flights.
Indian helicopters and aircraft have not been used for emergency medical evacuations since the current administration took office.
