‘Air India’s conduct unprofessional': DGCA issues show cause notice to airline, crew on urination incident
3 min read 05 Jan 2023, 06:24 PM ISTThe DGCA has enquired in their notice that why action should not be taken against Air India officials and crew members on the 26 November New York-Delhi flight for dereliction of duty.
PremiumThe Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued a show cause notice to the Air India officials and crew members onboard the 26 November flight from New York to Paris in connection with the incident where a drunk man urinated on a septuagenarian.
The DGCA has enquired in their notice that why action should not be taken against Air India officials and crew members for dereliction of duty, reported news agency PTI.
The DGCA has further noted that the conduct of the Air India airline has seemed to be ‘unprofessional’ and that this nature has led to ‘systemic failure’ on the part of the airline.
Air India had submitted the report to the DGCA pertaining to the urination incident of the inebriated male passenger. Earlier in the day, news agency NAI reported that Ministry of Civil Aviation took note of the Air India urination case. MoCA had asked Air India to provide all the details of the incident and hold an internal probe into the matter.
A man had allegedly urinated on an elderly woman co-passenger during a New York-Delhi flight on 26 November last year. The incident occurred when the flight was on its way from John F Kennedy international airport in New York to Delhi. The inebriated male passenger urinated on an elderly woman and flashed his private parts.
Meanwhile, Delhi Police has registered an FIR based on a complaint by Air India and has said that the man, who is a resident of Mumbai will be arrested soon.
Air India on Wednesday imposed a 30-day flying ban on the passenger.
The victim woman, on which a man allegedly urinated narrated the entire incident and said that the accused "unzipped his pants and peed on her" and kept standing.
In her complaint letter to Tata Sons Chairperson N Chandrasekharan, the woman said, "I would like to submit a complaint about my appalling experience travelling with on Air India Business Class Flight AI102, Seat 9A, from JFK to New Delhi on 26 November 2022. During the course of the flight, shortly after lunch was served and the lights were switched off, a male business class passenger seated in 8A walked to my seat, completely inebriated. He unzipped his pants and urinated on me and kept standing there until the person sitting next to me tapped him and told him to go back to his seat, at which point he staggered back to his seat. I immediately got up to notify the stewardess of what had happened. My clothes, shoes and bag were soaked in urine."
The woman has also claimed that the cabin crew was allegedly not entirely helpful in her situation.
"The bag contained my passport, travel documents and currency. The flight staff refused to touch them, sprayed my bag and shoes with disinfectant, and took me to the bathroom and gave me a set of airline pyjamas and socks. I asked the staff for a change of seat but was told that no other seats were available. However, another business class passenger who had witnessed my plight and was advocating for me pointed out that there were seats available in first class. The flight crew told me that the pilot had vetoed giving me a seat in first class. After I had been standing for 20 minutes, one of the senior flight staff offered me the small crew seat used by the airline staff, where I sat for about 2 hours. I was then asked to return to the initial soiled seat. Although the staff had spreadsheets on the seat, the area was still damp and reeking of urine and I refused to sit there. I was then given the steward seat for the rest of the journey," she further said in her letter.
Notably, another similar incident has also been reported in another Air India flight. This took place just ten days after the previous incident. In the second incident that took place on 6 December, 2022, on a Delhi bound flight from Paris, a drunk man had urinated on the blanket of a female co-passenger.
