DGCA suspends license of Air India pilot who allowed woman friend into cockpit

Air India

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on May 12 suspended the Pilot-In-Command of Air India AI-915 flight, which flew from New Delhi to Dubai on February 27.

The Air India pilot operating from Dubai to Delhi on February 27 entertained a female friend in the cockpit, violating aviation regulator DGCA's safety norms, according to a complaint by a member of the cabin crew made to the regulator.

The license of the Air India Pilot-In-Command who operated the flight has been suspended for three months, the regulator said in a statement.

The DGCA has also imposed a penalty of Rs 30 lakh on Air India for the delay in reporting the episode.

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The regulator, in its statement, also said that the co-pilot of Air India's AI-915 flight has also been warned for not being assertive in preventing the violation.

The aviation watchdog has also asked Air India to take administrative action against the passenger who had entered the cockpit of  Air India's AI-915 flight.

The DGCA has indicated that the passenger may be employed in a managerial role at the airline and has asked Air India to remove them "from any managerial functions in the organization for a specified period."

The complaint filed by one of the operating crew members of the flight alleges that the captain wanted the crew to make sure the cockpit appeared welcoming before inviting his friend in and asked that she be served food served in business class.

In its response on May 12, Air India said while it accepts the regulator's decision, it does not agree with the charge on lack of action on the airline's part.

“We acknowledge and accept the DGCA’s ruling. However, we reject the assertion that no action was taken by Air India in response to the complaint. There were a number of allegations which needed to be worked through with due process and confidentiality, and which commenced immediately upon the complaint being lodged,” said an Air India spokesperson.

Last month, Air India said that it had constituted a committee to investigate the issues raised and confirmed that the airline received the crew’s complaint on March 3.

According to the complaint, issues on AI 915 began even before boarding. The cabin crew waited for the pilots beyond their reporting time, then proceeded to the aircraft without meeting them.

The pilots boarded the flight along with the passengers. Then, according to the complaint, the captain asked the crew to inform him if there were vacant seats in business class as he had a friend who was travelling in economy class and he wanted her to be upgraded. The crew informed him that there weren’t.

According to the complainant, the captain asked her to get his woman friend to the cockpit and also told her to fetch some pillows from the bunk for her comfort. She sat on the first observer seat.

“He said the cockpit should appear welcoming, warm and comfortable, as though he was preparing his living room for a lady friend. Also, to take her drinks and snacks order and serve her in the cockpit. I told him, ‘Captain, I am not comfortable serving alcohol in the cockpit’.

This seems to have upset him a lot and his entire attitude changed from that moment onwards. He became very snappy and rude and from there on started treating me like a servant working exclusively for him,” the crew member said in her complaint.

According to DGCA’s Civil Aviation Regulation (CAR) : “An employee of the aircraft operator, who has the permission of the pilot-in-command (PIC) and whose duties are such that his/ her entry into the cockpit is necessary for safe operation of the aircraft can only be allowed in the cockpit provided they have done the mandatory BA tests.”

It also specifies that only people who have completed breath analyser tests are allowed to enter the cockpit.

The complaint says that the woman spent over an hour in the cockpit.

“While she was inside, the crew was summoned multiple times, during the passenger service on the short Delhi- Dubai sector, to offer her business class fare food and snacks. Though it interrupted the flow of service all requests were promptly catered to,” the complaint said.

The complainant also claimed that when the passenger was inside the cockpit, she went to speak to the Captain when she noticed the pilots were not in their usual positions.

“I noticed that the first officer was sleeping reclined fully with a pillow and the pilot in charge was sitting across facing the passenger in the rear observer station to chat. The pilot in charge indicated that the first officer (co-pilot) was taking a controlled rest and sleep,” the complaint stated.

The complainant noted that both the pilots accompanied the passenger till the immigration area.

The complainant also alleged that the captain was angry with her and made sexist remarks during the return flight. She added that she believed the pilot’s behaviour required his psychiatric evaluation at an independent Air force Medical testing station through DGCA, as he posed risk to passenger safety.

Air India this year has been filed multiple times for not promptly and effectively addressing safety-sensitive issues on its flights.

In January, the DGCA had imposed two fines of Rs 30 lakh and Rs 10 lakh on the Tata Group airline due to multiple incidents of a passenger "urinating" on a fellow co-passenger on board an Air India flight.