UPDATE: Lim reached out to Mothership after this article was published to clarify two points: She had requested tea with milk, and did not expect the airline to serve "hot boiling tea". She also clarified that her post was intended to remind passengers (especially parents) to be more careful.
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A 4-year-old girl was badly scalded by hot tea while on a flight from Milan, Italy, to Singapore.
Her mother, Lim, recounted the unfortunate incident with Mothership, and shared how the incident had left her daughter with "severe skin burn".
Daughter cried non-stop for an hour
Image courtesy of Lim.
Lim told Mothership that she was returning to Singapore on a Qatar Airways flight with her husband and daughter.
In the middle of their flight, Lim requested a cup of hot tea and subsequently placed it in the cupholder.
But with the "limited space as the front seat passenger lower down his chair", she accidentally hit the cup of hot tea while trying to sit up.
The tea splashed onto her daughter who was sleeping next to her. It went all over her daughter's legs and left her with a "severe skin burn".
She added that because of the pain, her daughter cried non-stop for an hour.
While the flight attendants attempted to assist the situation, Lim said all they did was pass them bandages and cream to aid the burn.
But she and her husband had no idea how to cover their kid's wounds with the bandage.
"Very dangerous" design
This is what the tray tables on Qatar Airways look like. Image courtesy of Lim.
Lim insisted that the cupholders on Qatar Airways' economy class, flight A350, are placed in a "very dangerous" position.
She did some research on other planes' tray designs but none of them are designed in the same way which to her makes it "very easily (sic) spill the cup".
"It would very dangerous for everyone who request for (a) hot beverage..."
She cautioned:
"I would like to share this to passengers or parents with young kids who take this flight (A350) cause this is really dangerous and I can't imagine if my daughter's face slept near my side. The hot tea would have spilt on her face."
When approached by Mothership, Qatar Airways commented:
“Qatar Airways deeply regrets the unfortunate incident onboard. Our cabin crew are trained to provide immediate first aid where needed and they quickly assisted the injured child, while our ground staff in Singapore arranged for access to further emergency medical care immediately upon landing."
The airlines also said that they will "remind our cabin crew to instruct passengers to be cautious and vigilant when handling hot beverages to prevent any such accidents in the future”.
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Top images courtesy of Lim.