11-year-old boy with heart problem reportedly prevented from boarding Air India flight

National carrier Air India reportedly prohibited a boy with a heart problem from boarding a flight to the US from Ahmedabad.

11-year-old Jasraj Singh Saini, with a hole in his heart, had an appointment with doctors in the US on June 2, ahead of his surgery on June 6. However, upon reaching the airport he was denied entry into AI-191 flight to Newark on Tuesday, reported Times of India.

"Two days before the date of the flight, airline officials called and confirmed our boarding. But when we went to the airport on Tuesday, we were asked to come the next day," said Harminder, Jasraj's cousin.

The June 2 appointment, the family added, will now have to be rescheduled.

Meanwhile, the national carrier said that it could not allow Saini on the flight as he had been prescribed oxygen on-board, as had a 75-year-old passenger who had checked in before Saini, and they could not have arranged oxygen for both of them.

Saini left for the US on the same flight on Wednesday.

A senior Air India official told the daily, "It was not possible to provide oxygen to two passengers on a 17-hour flight, and also carry so many oxygen cylinders."