DGCA imposes Rs 10L fine on Air India for not reporting two incidents on Paris-New Delhi flight

New Delhi:  Aviation regulator DGCA imposed a financial penalty of Rs 10 lakh on Air India for not reporting the incidents which occurred on AI-142 Paris-New Delhi flight on December 6, 2022.

Two incidents had occurred in the Air India flight. While one passenger who was caught smoking in the lavatory, was drunk and not adhering to the crew instructions; another passenger allegedly relieved himself on a vacant seat and blanket of a fellow female passenger when she went to the lavatory.

Accordingly, the DGCA issued show cause notice to the Accountable Manager of Air India as to why enforcement action should not be taken against them for dereliction of their regulatory obligations. Air India submitted a reply to the show cause notice on January 23 and the same was examined, said a senior DGCA official on Tuesday.

“Enforcement action in the form of Financial Penalty of Rs 10,00,000/- (Rupees Ten Lakh only) has been imposed on Air India for not reporting the incident to DGCA and delaying in referring the matter to its Internal Committee, which is a violation of applicable DGCA Civil Aviation Requirements,” said the official.

Following two incidents of passenger misconduct in the Air India Paris-New Delhi flight on December 6, 2022, the aviation regulator DGCA had asked the airline to maintain a database of all unruly passengers. It also asked the airline to refer the incident to the internal committee.

Earlier, in the Air India peeing incident which occurred on November 26, 2022 flight, the regulator on January 20 had imposed a fine of Rs 30 lakh on Air India and suspended the License of pilot-in-command for three months. Moreover, the regulator had also imposed a penalty of Rs 3 lakh on Director-in-flight services of Air India for failing to discharge her duties.

However, reacting to this action, All India Cabin Crew Association (AICCA) said that the derostered Air India crew in connection with the Air India urination case be reinstated on flights. It als0 termed the action against pilot-in-command (PIC) an unusually harsh punishment.

–IANS