- 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 UK flight bound for Italy was forced to make an emergency stopover in Germany after a child was severely burned after drinking a cup of tea.
The nine-year-old boy had been enjoying his hot drink during the flight from London.
But after accidentally spilling drink on himself, his burns were so severe that the plane had to make an emergency stop at Allgäu Airport in Memmingen, 117 kilometres from Munich in the southern German state of Bavaria.
The boy was then rushed to hospital by rescue helicopter, where doctors confirmed he had third-degree burns.
After the stopover, the plane finally took off again at around 11am and landed at its real destination, Brindisi in southern Italy, at around 12.30pm, an hour and a half late.
His burns were so severe that the plane had to make an emergency stop at the Allgäu airport in Memmingen, 117 kilometres from Munich (pictured)
The incident was reported to the border police in Memmingen.
According to police, the investigation revealed “that the incident was not the fault of a third party and that the child had been burned due to carelessness.”
Third-degree burns, or “full-thickness burns,” are the most severe type and affect all layers of the skin, including the epidermis, dermis, and underlying tissue.
These burns destroy nerve endings, so you may not feel pain in the affected area at first and instead your skin may appear white, charred, leathery, or waxy.
But all of this is dangerously misleading, as healing requires medical intervention, often including skin grafts.
These burns can also lead to complications such as infection and fluid loss, as well as very serious long-term consequences such as scarring.
But this is not the first time that children have been injured by food and drink served on board an aircraft.
This is not the first time that children have been injured by food and drink served on board an aircraft (file image)
The parents of a six-year-old girl are suing United Airlines for $75,000 in damages following a traumatic flight from Tel Aviv to Newark in 2022.
There her daughter allegedly suffered severe burns from an “inappropriately hot” meal and was left horribly disfigured.
The parents accused the airline of failing to properly maintain the plane, causing the girl’s tray table to malfunction and hot food to slide onto her lap.
Following the accident, the boy also allegedly did not receive adequate medical attention and suffered for the remaining twelve hours of the flight.