Another case of drunken misbehaviour mid-air has come to light. On December 6, a drunk man had allegedly urinated on the blanket of a female passenger on a Paris-Delhi Air India flight.
The pilot of the aircraft reported the matter to the Air Traffic Control (ATC) at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport about it however no action was taken as the male passenger gave a written apology, officials told PTI. They added that 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".
Although apprehended by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) as soon as he deboarded the plane at 9:40 am, he was allowed to leave after giving a written apology following a "mutual compromise" with the female co-passenger.
The lady passenger, who had initially made a written complaint, had reportedly refused to file a police case.
Air India on Wednesday imposed a 30-day flying ban on a passenger who had exposed himself and urinated on a female co-passenger onboard a flight from New York to Delhi on November 26 last year. It is also a matter of surprise that the person was allowed to leave the aircraft after the incident.
The Delhi Police has registered an FIR against the accused man who has been identified as Shekhar Mishra, a businessman in his fifties from Mumbai, and are searching for him.
Separately, aviation regulator DGCA said it has sought a report from the airline on the incident and will "take action against those found negligent".
The incident only came to light after the aggrieved woman passenger wrote a letter to N Chandrasekaran, chairman of the Tata Group. She alleged that the drunk man had walked to her seat, unzipped his pants and urinated. Even after urinating, the man continued to expose his private parts and only moved when other passengers asked him to leave. Her clothes, shoes, and bag were completely soaked in urine.
"The stewardess followed me to the seat, verified that it smelled of urine, and sprayed disinfectant on my bag and shoes..." she said in her letter. And when the woman complained to the crew, they reportedly just gave her a set of pyjamas and slippers and told her to return to her seat, claiming no other seat was available.
The woman also complained about being alloted a small seat used by the airline staff, by one of the senior stewardesses.
(With PTI inputs)