New Delhi: Days after the shocking incident of a man urinating on his female co-passenger on Air India’s New York-Delhi flight, a similar case was reported on the Paris-Delhi sector. But this time, no penal action was pressed after the passenger gave a written apology to the victim, officials told Press Trust of India on Thursday, January 5.
According to the news agency, this incident happened on December 6 on Air India flight 142 and the pilot of the aircraft reported the matter to the Air Traffic Control at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, following which the male passenger was apprehended.
The flight landed around 9:40 am in Delhi and the airport security was informed that the male passenger was “under the influence of alcohol and he was not following the instructions of the cabin crew, and he later peed on a blanket of an onboard lady passenger”, airport officials told PTI.
The Central Industrial Security Force apprehended the male passenger as soon as he deboarded the plane, however, he was later allowed to leave after the two passengers had a “mutual compromise” and the accused tendered a “written apology”, the report added.
The woman refused to file a police case against the man, and therefore, he was allowed to leave after he cleared immigration and customs formalities, airport officials told PTI.
The November 26 incident
On November 26, a man allegedly urinated on a female co-passenger onboard a New York-Delhi Air India flight. The incident happened on the flight’s business class.
The Delhi Police registered a first information report against the man on Wednesday, January 4, based on the complaint given by the victim to Air India, officials told PTI.
Based on the victim’s complaint, a case was registered under Indian Penal Code Sections 294 (obscene act in public place), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and 510 (misconduct in public by a drunken person) as well as under Aircraft Rules.
The accused, Shankar Mishra, who is the vice-president of the India Chapter of an American multinational financial services company headquartered in California, is absconding, the report said.
According to India Today, the victim in her complaint letter said that she wasn’t given an upgrade to the first class when her seat, clothes and bag were soiled with urine. She had asked for an upgrade because there were no other seats available in the business class, as per the letter.
She had to sit on the soiled seat and then on the seat meant for the crew, the report said.
Scathing indictment of @airindiain and their terrible handling of the urinating incident on board their flight. Read the victim’s full statement here: pic.twitter.com/9GfmhYLIUc
— Akshita Nandagopal (@Akshita_N) January 5, 2023
However, a cabin crew member told the news outlet: “I am not authorised to upgrade any passenger. Even the captain cannot do that these days. In order to make an upgrade we need permission from the management. Earlier, we used to give upgrades out of goodwill. At times, a doctor on board who would help in an medical emergency situation was given an upgrade. We even gifted a wine to the person who offered help, but then we were clearly told not to give out such gifts or give upgrades, so these days we can’t do it. We don’t have the permission.”
The aviation regulator on Thursday held that Air India’s conduct appeared to be “unprofessional”, PTI reported.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation issued notices to the officials and crew of the New York-Delhi flight, asking why action should not be taken against them for “dereliction” of duty while handling the November 26 ‘urination’ incident.
The action taken by Air India
Air India on Wednesday said that it has imposed a 30-day flying ban on the accused passenger (on the New York-Delhi flight) and set up an internal panel to probe whether there were lapses on part of the crew in addressing the situation.
However, no action was taken against the man on the Paris-Delhi flight.
Note that stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra was put on no-fly list by four airlines, including Air India, after he had questioned Republic TV editor Arnab Goswami on his work ethics and journalism on an IndiGo flight.
He was put on no-fly list for six months (which was later reduced to 30 days) – a punishment to be meted out to a passenger for committing Level 2 or physical abuse on board despite the fact that the pilot had officially said that Kamra didn’t even commit a Level 1 crime.
In 2017, the government had issued rules for preventing disruptive behaviour by air travellers and laid down guidelines for a no-fly list, the Indian Express had reported.
As per the rules, a complaint of unruly behaviour needs to be filed by the pilot-in-command, and this is to be probed by an internal committee to be set up by the airline.
During the period of pendency of the inquiry, the rules empower the concerned airline to impose a ban on the passenger. The committee is to decide the matter within 30 days, and also specify the ban duration.
The rules define three categories of unruly behaviour: Level 1 refers to behaviour that is verbally unruly, and calls for debarment up to three months; Level 2 indicates physical unruliness and can lead to the passenger being debarred from flying for up to six months; Level 3 indicates life-threatening behaviour for which the debarment would be for a minimum of two years.
However, it’s unclear what action Air India is taking in the latest case of December 6.