’Why cabin turns into complete darkness?’ Jet Airways CEO highlights safety lapses on flight after Air India’s incident

After the shocking incident on Air India's Delhi-bound flight, Jet Airways' Sanjiv Kapoor has highlighted "safety lapses" inside a flight. On 26 November, a drunk man allegedly urinated on an elderly co-passenger during a New York-Delhi flight, after the lights were turned off. The Jet Airways CEO stated that the practice of plunging the cabin into complete darkness during night flights / after service he “dislikes”.

Kapoor, who has barred turning a cabin into darkness in SpiceJet and Vistara, stated that lights should be kept dim and not off. This will ensure the safety of passengers. 

According to Kapoor, "Dimming the lights is the standard. Turning them off is not, or should not be".

Kapoor believes, the crew switches off cabin lights to reduce workload.

"My guess is it is done by some crew to force sleep and reduce workload. Have seen this on daytime flights too, sadly. Blinds completely closed (or electronically "closed" by the crew on 787s), lights off".

"Safety as crew and passenger otherwise move through the aisles in darkness and can trip or stumble and to allow the crew to keep an eye on the cabin visually. Service as hard to serve or respond to service requests in complete darkness," he added.

Kapoor said that the crew master control on dimming with a lock should not be allowed except for takeoff and landing (to make them undimmed).

"Have seen this misused by crew on multiple airlines".

A man urinated on an elderly woman after lunch was served and the lights were switched off, as she was getting ready to sleep. The flight had taken off from John F Kennedy international airport in New York.

The woman passenger claimed that Air India's crew member did not take any action against the drunk man. Therefore after landing in Delhi, she wrote a letter to Tata Group Chairman N Chandrasekaran in which she called the flight experience extremely traumatic and expressed deep disappointment over the incident in the business class section of the flight.

She said that within minutes, an inebriated male walked to her seat and unzipped his pants, relieving himself, and continued to expose his private parts until another passenger asked him to return to his seat.

"During the course of the flight, shortly after lunch was served and the lights were switched off, I was getting ready to sleep, and another passenger walked to my seat completely inebriated. He unzipped his pants, relieved himself, and continued to expose me to his private parts. The passenger sitting next to me asked him to return to his seat. He did not respond immediately, but after a few moments left the area," her letter said.

The country's aviation regulator the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said that it has sought a report of the incident from the airline and said: "action will be taken against those negligent."

As of now, Air India has imposed a 30-day flying ban on the drunk man, and the airline has set up an internal panel to probe whether there were lapses on part of the crew in addressing the situation that caused distress to the woman.

The National Commission for Women has taken cognisance of the incident. The Commission has sought a detailed action taken report within seven days from the Delhi Police Commissioner over the incident.

Air India said as a first part, it has banned the passenger for 30 days, the maximum it is permitted to unilaterally do so.

The Delhi Police has registered the FIR under sections 354, 509, and 510 of the Indian Penal Code and 23 of the Indian Aircraft Act against the man.