Air India planes stand at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport | Photo credit: AP
the story So Far: Air India has made excessive calls Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) decision to suspend one of your pilot’s licenses for a period of three months after Incident in New York-Delhi flight on 26 November Where a female passenger complained that a co-passenger urinated on her. The incident went on without being reported to the DGCA or without the accused being handed over to the police. Six airline employee unions have also demanded withdrawal of this ‘draconian’ punishment.
What is the penalty imposed by DGCA?
On January 20, the DGCA announced a total of three penalties for Air India and two of its personnel for an incident on a New York-Delhi flight on November 26, 2022, in which Shankar Mishra, 34, who is in judicial custody, allegedly A senior citizen in an inebriated state urinated on a female passenger, but walked away after failing to hand her over to the police after the plane landed. It also announced a fine of Rs 30 lakh on Air India, suspension of license of pilot-in-command Captain Narayan Ramprasad for three months and Rs 3 lakh fine on Air India’s director of in-flight services. to discharge his duties.
The incident raised questions not only about a misdemeanor against a female passenger that may have amounted to not reporting a potential sexual assault, but also about the airline’s protocols in dealing with an incident that could lead to an aircraft accident. Can put security at risk.
What are the rules for DGCA’s decision?
The DGCA has cited two important rules to explain its action, the first of which pertains to the Civil Aviation Requirement, (Section 3- Air Transport Chain M Part VI) which deals with handling of unruly passengers. The rules recognize that an unruly passenger can jeopardize the safety of a flight and have taken a step in developing SOPs to train your crew and ensure timely identification of potentially unruly passengers at the boarding gate, check-in, lounge Performs airline duties. or any other place in the terminal building. An airline representative is required to file an FIR after the aircraft lands with the concerned security agency at the airport, who will be handed over to the unruly passenger. The airline is expected to form an internal committee to probe the incident. The second rule is Rule 141 of the Aircraft Rules, 1937 which defines the responsibility of a Pilot-in-Command (PIC) who is to “supervise and direct the other members of the crew in the proper discharge of their duties in flight operations” ” , In addition to being responsible for the operation and safety of the aircraft during flight time, the PIC is also responsible “for the safety of passengers and cargo and for the maintenance of flight discipline and safety of crew members.”
Why have Air India and employee unions objected?
In a public statement on 24 January, Air India made it clear that it believed the DGCA’s punishment for its PIC was “excessive” and announced that it would assist it in appealing against the decision. that its pilot and cabin crew “acted in good faith” and that the identity of the accused passenger could not be ascertained because he was “sober, cooperative and not intoxicated by the crew” and that “in the judgment of the crew, The alleged perpetrator did not take any risk to fly “safety at any point of time”. It also states that there was a mutual understanding between the accused and the female passenger who had leveled the allegations against him, and that there were no eyewitnesses to the incident. were not, and asking the crew to infer the guilt of the accused would be “contrary to natural justice”.
The unions, in a joint letter to the DGCA, asked the PIC to “withdraw the harsh penalty and suspension” as he filed all reports “immediately on landing”, but the Air India management and senior officials failed to act on them and report the matter. I failed. DGCA within 12 hours. He has also raised questions about the report of Air India’s internal committee on the incident, calling it full of “inadequacies and inaccuracies”, which failed to provide an opportunity to the pilots and cabin crew to depose before it, therefore, There was a “miscarriage of justice”. ,
But a senior government official related to the case said, “The pilot and crew cannot act as judge and jury. They have to believe the woman passenger and file a complaint and let the police do their job.”
Is the punishment harsh?
This type of punishment is not considered unusual at all. In 2022, according to DGCA data, a total of 115 enforcement actions were taken against pilots which included warnings in 37 cases, suspension in 77 cases and suspension of license in one case. A total of 113 cabin crew and seven ATCOs (air traffic control officers) also faced suspension. The grounds for such enforcement action against a pilot other than reporting for duty under the influence of alcohol, or flying through turbulence despite warnings or flying an aircraft despite knowledge of a technical fault and endangering the safety of passengers Can be “If the DGCA issues a show cause notice to the pilot and finds his response inadequate, then action is appropriate as the PIC is in charge of the safety of the aircraft. But we can debate about the quantum of penalty awarded, as the rules do not define it and the DGCA can arbitrarily decide on it,” said aviation security expert Mohan Ranganathan. A three-month suspension can set a pilot back around ₹20 lakh-₹24 lakh, while the airline faces a fine of ₹30 lakh.