DGCA considering longer bans, fine after Air India places 'peegate' accused on 30 day no-fly list

While Air India has placed accused Tushar Masand on its no-fly list for a month, the DGCA is expected to ask all other Indian airlines to ban him from flying by the end of the week.

India's aviation watchdog, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), has launched an investigation into the April 9, 2025, incident of a  passenger allegedly urinating on a co-passenger, the managing director of a multinational company, onboard Air India flight AI2336, flying from Delhi to Bangkok.

According to a report filed by the airline, the incident took place during the descent of the Airbus A320 (VT-RTS) when an Indian citizen, identified as Tushar Masand, seated in 2D urinated on a senior official from Bridgestone India, seated in 1D.

The DGCA will consider slapping an year-long flying ban and fine on the accused, if found guilty, multiple government officials told Moneycontrol.

"Such repeated incidents on international flights from India are a cause for concern for the aviation industry and passengers need to be informed that they cannot just get away with such unruly behaviour," a senior government official told Moneycontrol on condition on anonymity.

He added that many such incidents call into question the protocols being followed onboard flights.

While Air India has placed the accused, Tushar Masand, on its no-fly list for a month, the DGCA is expected to ask all other Indian airlines to ban him from flying by the end of the week.

Air India has also set up an independent three-member internal committee to conduct an investigation into the incident and submit a detailed report with the DGCA in the next few days, officials close to the proceedings told Moneycontrol.

Senior officials in the DGCA added that once it gets a detailed report from Air India, it will carry out its own investigation and announce further action by next week.

Emails sent to Air India, DGCA and MoCA (Ministry of Civil Aviation), seeking more details remained unanswered till the time of publishing this report.

However, an Air India spokesperson did confirm that an incident of unruly passenger behaviour was reported to the cabin crew, operating flight AI2336, from Delhi to Bangkok, on April 9, 2025.

"The crew followed all laid-down procedures, and the matter has been reported to the authorities. In addition to warning the unruly passenger, our crew offered to assist the passenger to take up the grievance with the authorities in Bangkok, which was declined at the time. The standing independent committee will be convened to assess the incident and determine the action, if any, to be taken against the unruly passenger. Air India continues to follow the SOPs (standard operating procedures) as laid out by the DGCA in such matters," an Air India spokesperson told Moneycontrol.

Officials from the MoCA also expressed concerns about such repeated incidents on board Air India-operated flights and said that the government will work with Air India to identify the reason why such incidents keep recurring and come up with solutions.

Previous incidents

On November 26, 2022, a passenger, allegedly in an inebriated state, urinated on a woman co-passenger aboard an Air India flight from New York to Delhi. Ten days later, a similar episode was reported on a Paris-New Delhi flight, where a “drunk" male passenger allegedly urinated on a female passenger’s blanket.

In January 2023, the DGCA had imposed a penalty of Rs 30 lakh on Air India for violating  DGCA requirements and also decided to suspend the pilot-in-command of Air India's AI-102 flight, which flew on the New York-New Delhi route on November 26, 2022.

The DGCA had also imposed a fine of Rs 3 lakh on Vasudha Chandana, Air India's Executive Director, in-flight services, for failing to discharge her duties as per DGCA's requirements.

In June 2023, an Air India passenger on a Mumbai-Delhi flight was detained for allegedly defecating and urinating on the floor of the plane while midair.

Currently, the Tata Group operates two airline brands - full-service Air India and Air India Express.

The DGCA and MoCA, under provisions of the Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR), categorises unruly behaviour by passengers to three levels. Level 1 pertains to verbal abuse by passengers, level 2 pertains to physical assault or abuse, and level 3 deals with threat to aircraft safety.

There are protocols to deal with all three levels. In level 1, the crew gives a verbal warning to the passenger. In level 2, a written warning is given by the captain. In level 3, the unruly passenger is physically restrained.