By India Blooms News Service Jan 10, 2023
New Delhi/IBNS: Air India, which is of late dominating headlines after a drunken passenger was caught urinating on a co-passenger on a flight from New York to New Delhi, has been sent another show cause notice for incidents in a flight between Paris and Delhi.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has slammed the airline, calling its response lackadaisical and delayed while demanding that it justifies why action should not be taken against it.
The latest notice involved two separate instances of passenger misbehaviour onboard a Paris-New Delhi flight on Dec 6.
In one of those incidents, a drunk passenger had urinated on the vacant seat and blanket of a woman passenger.
Meanwhile, another passenger was caught smoking in the lavatory and had not responded to the instructions of the cabin crew.
This comes after a drunk passenger, on Nove 26, urinated on an elderly woman in the class of the airlines New York-New Delhi flight.
Air India had not reported any of these incidents before they made headlines.
In the case of the Paris flight, the DGCA was notified only after it sought a report.
Air India didnt report the incident until DGCA sought the incident report from them on 05.01.2023, the DGCA said in a statement.
The response, which came last week, made it clear that Air India did not comply with the provisions related to the handling of unruly passengers as per DGCA, the statement read.
When the Paris-Delhi flight of Dec 6 landed, the airport security was informed that a passenger was under the influence of alcohol.
He was not following the instructions of the cabin crew and later urinated on the blanket of an onboard lady passenger.
The woman, who had initially given a written complaint, had refused to file a police case, so the passenger was allowed to go by the airport security.
The matter was reported in the aftermath of the shocking case of the New York-Delhi flight, which has triggered outrage across the country.
The DGCA said not only should an airline report any incident within 12 hours, but it should also refer them to an internal committee.
In the earlier incident, the DGCA had issued notice to some officials of the Tata Group-owned airline, the pilot of the flight and the crew, asking them to reply within two weeks.
On Nov 26, Mumbai businessman Shankar Mishra allegedly unzipped and urinated on an elderly woman in the business class of an Air India flight from New York to Delhi.
To everyones shock, when the flight landed, Shankar Mishra was allowed to leave without any repercussions.
Air India didnt complain to the police until the womans letter to the group chairman of Air India, N Chandrasekaran, surfaced.
... it emerges that provisions related to the handling of an unruly passenger on-board have not been complied with, the DGCA had said in a statement.
The conduct of the concerned airline appears to be unprofessional and has led to a systemic failure.
Prima facie it lacks appreciation of regulatory obligations as described in applicable Aircraft Rules 1937, Civil Aviation Requirements on Handling of Unruly Passengers, Cabin Safety Circular, Air India Operations Manual, Air India Safety and Emergency Procedure Manual and Air India Quick Reference Handbook and is devoid of empathy, the statement had added.