Minister of State of Civil Aviation VK Singh on Monday told the Rajya Sabha Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has placed 166 passengers on the No fly list from 2021 till date. During the last three years more than 13 thousand complaints were received so far by the airlines, Singh added. The number of passengers carried by the scheduled Indian carriers for their domestic operations from 2020-21 to June-2023 (provisional) stood at 38,589,193, he said.
What is 'no fly list'?
The list of passengers, who are banned by DGCA from taking flights within India for a specific period for their unruly behaviour is called 'no fly list'.
What is the procedure (SoP) to make the list?
The SoP, as per the Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR), says a complaint of unruly behaviour from the pilot-in-command is to be referred by the airlines to an Internal Committee constituted by the airline.
"The Internal Committee shall decide the matter within a period of 30 days along with category level of the unruly passenger and duration of ban from flying in terms of the provisions of the CAR," The SoP read.
Pending the decision of the Internal Committee, the concerned airline may ban such passenger from flying for a period not exceeding 30 days. The decision of the Internal Committee is binding on the airline concerned. In case the Internal Committee fails to take a decision in 30 days, the passenger will be free to fly.
Unfortunately, incidents related to breaching DGCA norms by passengers are on the rise in the last couple of years.
Here we listed some major incidents that made headlines in the country.
Smoking incident
In a very recent incident reported on Sunday, a passenger was found smoking in the toilet of an IndiGo Dubai-Mumbai flight when it was airborne. Following this, a case has been registered at Sahar Police Station in Mumbai against the passenger, Kavraj Tagat Siingh. As per the reports, section 336 of the IPC and Section 25 of the Aircraft Rules are invoked in the FIR.
Urinating incident
A 40-year-old man was arrested for spitting, urinating and defecating on an Air India flight between Mumbai and Delhi in June 2023.
Urinating on woman
A man, Shankar Mishra, was arrested following a complaint by a woman on board an Air India flight from New York in June 2023. The woman alleged Mishra urinated on her.
Fight on flight
Thai Smile Airways flight to Kolkata from Bangkok hit headlines after a video went viral in which Indian passengers were seen fighting. A passenger rained blows on co-passenger after a heated argument. The incident was reported in December 2022.
A Nepal national was booked for unruly behaviour on an Air India flight in July 2023. He reportedly abused cabin crew, tried to beat up co-passengers and broke the lavatory door inside the flight after take-off from Toronto.
Also read- Maharashtra: Passenger found smoking in toilet of IndiGo Dubai-Mumbai flight
