A flight attendant spilled a hot beverage that burned a 10-year-old passenger. The airline blamed the 'child's playful behavior.'

• A Vistara Airlines flight attendant accidentally burned a 10-year-old girl after spilling a hot beverage.
• Rachna Gupta, the child's mother, said the cabin crew did not assist or apologize.

A flight attendant on a Vistara Airlines flight spilled a hot beverage on a 10-year-old passenger. The spill caused her to suffer second-degree burns, the child's mother said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Rachna Gupta, the child's mother, said in a series of posts that her daughter had asked a flight attendant for two cups of hot chocolate on a flight from New Delhi, India, to Frankfurt, Germany. But when the flight attendant opened the service tray, one of the cups spilled on her daughter.

"An unfortunate accident poorly handled . Vistara hostess didn't apologize , captain or crew members didn't apologize . After basic first aid on flt my daughter and I were left in an ambulance," Gupta wrote in a post on August 13.

Gupta said she had to pay for her daughter's ambulance in Germany, and that Vistara only offered her "a standard scripted apology." She added that the cabin crew "lacked basic first-aid knowledge."

"Thank god I can afford to pay, wonder what would happen to people without resources," she wrote in another post.

Vistara confirmed the incident to the Dubai-based newspaper Gulf News in a statement, adding that the child's behavior had caused the hot beverage to be spilled.

"An unfortunate occurrence transpired on flight UK25 from Delhi to Frankfurt on August 11, 2023. A child sustained injuries due to the spillage of hot beverage on her body. The cabin crew had served hot chocolate to the child upon the parents' request. However, due to the child's playful behavior during the service, the hot water accidentally spilled," Vistara said in the statement.

Vistara claims that the airline tended to the child's injuries.

"As per our established protocols, our crew promptly administered first aid for the spillage and enlisted the assistance of an onboard paramedic, who volunteered to aid until the flight landed in Frankfurt," Vistara said in the statement, adding that the airline has been in contact with Gupta and arranged their flight back to India.

In a statement to Insider, Vistara said Gupta's daughter "sustained injuries due to spillage of hot beverage on the body."

"Our cabin crew had served hot chocolate to the child on the request of her parents, however, the hot water spilled on her since the child was playful during the service and her hand accidentally hit the tray that caused toppling of the mug," Vistara added.

Vistara, a joint venture between Indian company Tata and Singapore Airlines, is no stranger to controversy. In June last year, Bloomberg reported that Vistara used untrained pilots to fly its planes, which resulted in a fine of one million rupees, or around $12,000.

Gupta did not immediately respond to requests for comment.