Aviation regulator DGCA on Friday imposed a fine of Rs 30 lakh on Air India and also suspended the license of the pilot-in-command of the New York-Delhi flight in which a man allegedly urinated on a female co-passenger. Was. In the incident that took place on November 26, 2022, the watchdog has also imposed a fine of Rs 3 lakh on the director of in-flight services of Air India for failing to discharge his duties. The enforcement action for violation of applicable norms comes nearly two months after the incident came to the notice of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on January 4.
This is also the first time that the DGCA has fined an airline for unruly behavior of passengers during a flight. An Air India spokesperson said in a statement that it has received the DGCA order and is studying it.
An airline spokesperson said, “We respectfully acknowledge the lapses in our reporting and are taking relevant steps to ensure that these are addressed. We continue to improve our staff’s awareness and policies to deal with incidents involving unruly passengers.” Also strengthening compliance.
On Thursday, Air India had imposed a four-month flying ban on Mishra, who is currently in jail. Earlier, the airline had banned him from flying for 30 days. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in its statement on Friday that enforcement action has been taken in connection with the incident which came to the notice of the regulator on January 4.
The watchdog had issued show cause notices to Air India’s Accountable Manager, Director of In-Flight Services, all pilots and cabin crew members of that flight as to why enforcement action should not be taken against them for breach of their regulatory obligations.
DGCA examined the written replies of Air India and the personnel involved and decided on enforcement action. “A financial penalty of Rs 30,00,000 has been imposed on Air India for violation of the applicable DGCA Civil Aviation Requirements (CARs),” the regulator said.
Further, the Vigilante stated that the license of the Pilot-in-Command of the said flight has been suspended for three months for failing to discharge his duties as per Rule 141 of the Aircraft Rules, 1937 and the applicable DGCA CAR.
A financial penalty of Rs.3 lakh has been imposed on the Director-in-flight services of M/s Air India for failing to discharge his duties as per DGCA CAR. The DGCA said an incident of passenger misbehavior took place on November 26 last year in AI-102 flight from New York to Delhi, in which a male passenger behaved in an unbecoming manner and allegedly defecated with a female passenger.
The DGCA had issued a CAR in September 2017 on dealing with unruly passengers.