British flight diverted to Germany after nine-year-old boy spills TEA on himself, leaving him with third-degree burns
- The burns were so severe that the plane had to make an emergency stop at Allgäu airport
- Were you on the plane? Email elena.salvoni@mailonline.co.uk
A British flight en route to Italy was forced to make an emergency landing in Germany after a young child suffered severe burns from a cup of tea.
The nine-year-old boy enjoyed his hot drink during the flight from London.
But after he accidentally spilled drink on himself, his burns were so severe that the plane had to make an emergency landing at Allgäu airport in Memmingen, 117 kilometres outside Munich in the southern German state of Bavaria.
The boy was then taken to hospital by rescue helicopter, where doctors determined he had third-degree burns.
After the stopover, the plane finally took off again around 11:00 am and landed at its actual destination Brindisi in southern Italy around 12:30 pm, more than an hour and a half late.
His burns were so severe that the plane had to make an emergency stop at Allgäu Airport in Memmingen, 117 kilometers outside Munich (photo)
Memmingen border police officers then took over the incident.
According to police, the investigation showed ‘that the incident was not the fault of a third party and that the boy burned himself through carelessness’.
Third-degree burns, or “full-thickness burns,” are the most severe form of burn. They affect all layers of the skin, including the epidermis, dermis, and underlying tissue.
These burns destroy nerve endings, causing the affected area to initially feel no pain. Instead, the skin appears white, charred, leathery, or waxy.
But this is all dangerously misleading, because healing is only possible through medical intervention, often involving skin grafts.
These burns can also cause complications, such as infections and fluid loss, as well as very serious long-term consequences, such as scarring.
However, this is not the first time that children have been injured by food and drinks served on board an aircraft.
It’s not the first time children have been injured by food and drinks served on board a plane (file photo)
The parents of a six-year-old girl have sued United Airlines, seeking $75,000 in damages after a traumatic flight from Tel Aviv to Newark in 2022.
Here their daughter is said to have suffered severe burns from an ‘inappropriately hot’ meal and was horribly mutilated.
The parents accused the airline of failing to properly maintain the plane, causing the child’s table to malfunction and hot food to fall onto her lap.
After the accident, the child reportedly did not receive adequate medical care and suffered for the remaining twelve hours of the flight.