An Air India passenger allegedly urinated on a fellow passenger during a flight from the national capital to Bangkok on Wednesday, according to sources.
As an interim measure, the sources said Air India has put the male passenger who allegedly urinated on the fellow passenger in the no-fly list for one month.
aIn a statement, the Tata Group-owned airline said an incident of “unruly passenger behaviour” was reported to the cabin crew operating the flight AI2336 from Delhi to Bangkok on Wednesday.
“The crew followed all laid down procedures, and the matter has been reported to the authorities. In addition to warning the unruly passenger, our crew offered to assist an aggrieved passenger to take up a grievance with authorities in Bangkok, which was declined at the time,” Air India said.
However, the airline did not elaborate on the unruly passenger behaviour.
The sources said the passenger allegedly urinated on a co-passenger, reportedly a senior executive at a multinational company, and both the male passengers were travelling in the business class. The airline has reported the matter to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), they added.
When asked about the incident, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu on Wednesday said the ministry will take note of the incident and speak to the airline.
“If there is any wrongdoing, we will take necessary action,” Naidu said on the sidelines of an event in the national capital.
According to Air India, the standing Independent Committee will be convened to assess the incident and determine the action, if any, to be taken against the unruly passenger.
“Air India continues to follow the SOPs as laid out by DGCA in such matters,” the statement said.
DGCA norms are in place to tackle on-board disruptive and unruly behaviour by passengers. These include setting up an internal committee by the airline concerned to decide on the action to be taken against the unruly passenger.
In 2023, at least two incidents of a passenger urinating on a fellow passenger in Air India flights had come to light.
An inebriated man allegedly urinated on his female co-passenger in the business class of the airline’s New York-New Delhi flight on November 26, 2022.
In another incident that happened on December 6, 2022, a drunk passenger allegedly urinated on the blanket of a female passenger in the carrier’s Paris-New Delhi flight.
PTI