UK flight is diverted to Germany after boy, nine, spills TEA over himself and suffers third degree burns

A UK flight headed for Italy was forced to make an emergency stop in Germany after a young child suffered most severe type of burns from a cup of tea.

The young boy, aged nine, had been enjoying his hot beverage on flight from London. 

But after he accidentally spilled drink upon himself his burns were so severe the plane had to make an emergency stop at Allgäu Airport in Memmingen, 73 miles outside of Munich in the southern German state of Bavaria.

The boy was then rushed to hospital by rescue helicopter, which doctors confirmed he had third degree burns.

After the stopover, the plane finally took off again at around 11 am and landed at its actual destination of Brindisi in southern Italy at around 12.30 pm, a good hour and a half late.

Officers from the Memmingen border police then took over the incident.

According to the police, the investigation revealed ‘that the incident was not the fault of a third party and that the boy had scalded himself through carelessness’.

Third-degree burns, or ‘full-thickness burns’, are the most severe type, affecting all layers of the skin, including the epidermis, dermis, and underlying tissue.

These burns destroy nerve endings, so the affected area may not feel pain initially, and instead leaves the skin appearing white, charred, leathery, or waxy.

But this is all dangerously deceptive as healing requires medical intervention, often even involving skin grafts.

These burns can also lead complications like infections and fluid loss, and also very serious long-term consequences such as scarring.

This is not the first time, however, that children have been injured by food and drink served on board an aircraft.

It 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 sued United Airlines for 75,000 dollars in damages after a traumatic flight from Tel Aviv to Newark in 2022.

Here their 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 aircraft, causing the child’s tray table to malfunction and the hot food to slide onto her lap.

After the accident, the child allegedly also did not receive adequate medical care and suffered for the remaining twelve hours of the flight.