NEW DELHI: Aviation regulator DGCA has slammed Air India’s handling of the urination incident on its flights on November 26 and said it “appears to be unprofessional” and is “devoid of empathy”. The regulator also said the Tata Group airline violated rules and its conduct led to a “systemic failure”.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Thursday issued show cause notices to accountable manager, director of in-flight Services, Air India and pilots and cabin crew members of that flight, in which it has asked why enforcement action shouldn’t be taken against them for dereliction of their duties.
“The conduct of the concerned airline appears to be unprofessional and has led to a systemic failure. Prima facie it lacks appreciation of regulatory obligations as described in applicable Aircraft Rules 1937, Civil Aviation Requirements on ‘Handling of Unruly Passengers’, Cabin Safety Circular, Air India Operations Manual, Air India Safety and Emergency Procedure Manual and Air India Quick Reference Handbook and is devoid of empathy,” DGCA said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the accused in this case has been reportedly identified as Shankar Mishra, vice-president of Wells Fargo India. Wells Fargo is a multi-national financial services corporation headquartered in California, US. Mishra is said to be absconding as Delhi Police has issued a look-out notice against him.
Air India, while responding to another DGCA query, said its staff had not complained to law enforcement about Mishra, who urinated on a senior female passenger on a New York-Delhi flight on November 26, as the aggrieved lady had rescinded an initial request for action after the two appeared to have sorted out the issue. This incident came into light after a letter written by the woman to Tata Group chairman N Chandrasekaran went viral.
The letter states the traumatizing experience she had gone through and limited assistance she received from the cabin crew when the incident took place. The man had left the flight without facing any action from the airline.