Aviation regulator DGCA on Monday issued show cause notice to Air India regarding two incidents of passenger misbehaviour onboard Paris-New Delhi flight last month. DGCA taking cognizance of such egregious incidents on another Air India flight spells lot more bad news for the airline already reeling from a 34-year-old man urinating on a senior citizen on a New York-Delhi flight.
“Two incidents of passenger misbehaviour occurring on Air India flight AI-142 on December 6, 2022 from Paris to New Delhi, came to the notice of DGCA:
a. One passenger caught smoking in the lavatory, was drunk and not listening to the crew.
b. Another passenger allegedly relieved himself on a vacant seat and blanket of fellow female passenger when she went to lavatory,” said Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
According to a DGCA press release, Air India didn’t report the incident until DGCA sought the incident report from them on January 5.
“After perusal of the reply submitted by Air India through email dated January 6, prima facie it emerges that provisions related to the handling of unruly passengers as per DGCA CAR Section -3, Series-M, Part-VI have not been complied with,” the press release said. DGCA said it has been noted that the response of the airline has been “lackadaisical and delayed”.
“In view of this, DGCA has issued Show Cause notice to Accountable Manager of M/s Air India as to why enforcement action should not be taken against them for dereliction of their regulatory obligations. However, to follow the principles of natural justice, they have been given two weeks time to submit their reply to DGCA and based on that further action will be taken,” the release said. DGCA has issued Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) Section -3, Series-M, Part-VI on ‘Handling of Unruly Passenger’ and Cabin Safety Circular 02 of 2010 on ‘Unruly Passengers/Passenger Rage/Passenger Misconduct incidents reporting procedure’.
DGCA says “It has been noted that the response of the airline has been lackadaisical and delayed.”
In view of this, DGCA has issued show cause notice to Accountable Manager of M/s Air India as to why enforcement action should not be taken against them for dereliction of their regulatory obligations. However, to follow the principles of natural justice, they have been given two weeks time to submit their reply to DGCA and based on that further action will be taken.
DGCA said Air India has been lackadaisical in its approach towards the incidents.
Air India Paris-Delhi flight landed around 9:40 am on December 6 at Delhi airport, and the airport security was informed that the male passenger was ”under the influence of alcohol and he was not following the instructions of the cabin crew, and he later peed on a blanket of an onboard lady passenger”, airport officials had told PTI on January 6, 2023.
The lady passenger, who had initially made a written complaint, refused to file a police case, and hence the passenger was allowed to go by the airport security after he cleared immigration and customs formalities, they added.
This was the second mid-air incident of a similar nature on an Air India flight in less than 10 days, as on November 26 last year, an inebriated man allegedly urinated on his female co-passenger in her seventies in the business class of the airline’s New York-New Delhi flight. This incident was also not reported to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, for which the regulator pulled up the full-service carrier, stating its conduct was unprofessional and issued show cause notices to the airline, its director in-flight services and the crew that operated the New York-Delhi flight, asking them to explain within two weeks why action should not be taken against them.
