The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued a show cause notice to Air India over a November incident when an inebriated man urinated on a passenger - a woman in her 70s - on a New York to Delhi flight in a business class horror show that has caused a massive outrage.
The aviation regulator body said the incident came to their notice on January 4, almost a month and half after it happened and they have asked for details about the incident from Air India and how the passenger was handled after the shameful act.
The DGCA also said that Air India's conduct in this case appears to be "unprofessional" and has led to a "systemic failure".
"For fact finding, DGCA sought the details of the incident from Air India and on the basis of reply of the airline, prima facie it emerges that provisions related to handling of an unruly passenger on-board have not been complied with. The conduct of the concerned airline appears to be unprofessional and has led to a systemic failure," the DGCA said in a statement while issuing a show cause notice to the airline, pilots, cabin crew and the director of in-flight services.
The statement also said "regulatory obligations" were not followed and accused the airline of being "devoid of empathy".
The regulatory body has granted them two weeks time to respond for what they called "dereliction of their regulatory obligations".
On November 26, a drunk man exposed himself and urinated on an elderly woman in the business class of Air India flight AI-102 from New York to Delhi.
The elderly woman wrote a letter to N Chandrasekaran, Tata Group chairman, for action to be taken as she claimed that the crew didn’t take appropriate action at the time of the shocking act. Air India is run by the Tata Group.
The airline has banned the man, identified as a Mumbai resident in his 50s, for 30 days - the maximum they can do - as a "first step" while the conduct of the airline staff has also been questioned since they did not handover the unruly passenger to security after the plane landed.
A police complaint against the man has also been filed in the matter and the airline said they have constituted an internal committee to probe lapses on part of their crew and address the "deficiencies that delayed quick redressal of the situation".
In her letter to Chandrasekaran, the unnamed woman said the incident took place soon after lunch was served on the flight after the lights were switched off. The drunk man, she said, walked to her seat, unzipped his pants and proceeded to urinate on her. He didn’t stop exposing himself even after the disgusting act, she recalled, adding that he left only after a co-passenger asked him to leave.
She then informed the cabin crew about the incident who then “verified that it smelled of urine” and sprayed disinfectant on her bag and shoes.
The woman, who changed into a set of pyjamas and disposable footwear that the crew gave her, stood near the toilet of the aircraft for nearly 20 minutes since she did not want to return to her smelly and soiled seat, according to reports. She sat on the narrow crew seat for an hour before being asked to return to her own seat. When she refused again, she was moved to another crew seat for the rest of the flight.
The woman reportedly learnt from fellow passengers that several seats on the flight’s first class seating area were vacant and yet she wasn’t allocated a different seat than her urine-soaked one.
She was then told she would be given a wheelchair to clear customs at Delhi airport soonest but even that apparently took time.
“The wheelchair deposited me at a waiting area, where I waited for 30 minutes, and nobody came to get me. I finally had to clear customs on my own and collect the luggage by myself – all in Air India pyjamas and socks,” she wrote in her letter to Chandrasekaran.
The airline also said they are in regular contact with the aggrieved passenger and are taking all necessary steps.
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