Woman in Critical Condition Airlifted to India in 26-Hour Flight as Treatment in US Cost Much More

A 67-year-old woman was transported to India using two separate private jets, one from Portland to Istanbul, Turkey, and another from Istanbul to Chennai, in a 26-hour journey, reaching her destination on early Tuesday morning.

In what is said to be one of the longest aero-medical evacuations in recent times, a US-based Indian woman was airlifted to Chennai in India's Tamil Nadu state for emergency heart surgery.

Media reports quoting the International Critical-Care Air Transfer Team (ICATT), an air ambulance service provider, said the woman needed to be airlifted as the treatment period in the US was longer and cost much more than airlifting her to another continent.

First, the patient was taken by plane from Portland to Reykjavik, Iceland. Then she was flown to Istanbul to change plane, where there was a new medical crew too. The plane once again stopped for refueling in Diyarbakir in Turkey before flying to Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India.

Dr. Shalini Nalwad, co-founder and director of ICATT, told the BBC that the aircraft was changed. “It was done to reduce the time taken for mandatory checks every time a plane stops for refuelling.”

Media reports also suggested that the woman had difficulty claiming health insurance in the United States since she was an Indian passport holder.

The journey reportedly cost around $125,179.