Air India 'urinating' case: Directorate General of Civil Aviation had on Friday imposed a penalty of Rs 30 lakh on Air India in relation to an incident of a person allegedly urinating on a female co-passenger in an inebriated state. Along with this, the license of the pilot-in-command of a New York-Delhi flight where the incident took place.
In addition to this, the watchdog has also slapped a fine of Rs 3 lakh on Air India's Director of in-flight services for failing to discharge her duties, according to a statement on Friday.
DGCA also issued show cause notices to the accountable manager of Air India, the Director of in-flight Services of Air India as well as all the pilots and cabin crew members of that flight as to why enforcement action should not be taken against them for dereliction of their regulatory obligations.
The incident came to the notice of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) only on January 4 and the latest actions are for violations of various norms.
An Air India spokesperson said, "We're studying DGCA's order. We acknowledge gaps in our reporting an are taking relevant steps to ensure that they are addressed. We're also strengthening our crews' awareness of and compliance with policies on handling of incidents involving unruly passengers."
What had exactly happened?
A drunk passenger urinated on a woman flyer in the business class of an Air India flight last year on November 26. The accused is identified as S Mishra, a resident of Mumbai. On November 26, S Mishra, allegedly drunk, unzipped and urinated on the woman. He remained at the spot, exposing himself until another passenger asked him to return to his seat.
A Look Out Circular (LoC) had been issued against the accused who has been evading arrest. According to the Delhi Police official when the team reached his residence in the Kamgar Nagar area in Mumbai, he was not there. Going by the technical surveillance, the last location of the suspect was in Bangalore which is his workplace's official address.
Delhi police arrest accused from Bengaluru
"A Delhi police team went to Bangalore and found he has taken leave from office," the sources said. The victim, in her complaint filed on Wednesday, has said that she wanted the man arrested but the 'crew brought the offender' before her against her wishes and he profusely apologised so that no complaint is filed against him.
What the victim had to say about the incident?
In her complaint to 'Grievance Air Sewa', the woman narrated the entire incident in detail and said the man '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'. She alleged that the Air India crew was "deeply unprofessional" and was "not proactive in managing a very sensitive and traumatic situation".
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