AI sticks up for pilot in urination case on NY-Delhi flight in November

Air India calls suspension of licence by DGCA 'excessive'

Closing its internal investigation into the infamous incident on AI-102 flight from New York to Delhi in November last year where Shankar Mishra, an inebriated passenger, had allegedly urinated on a septuagenarian co-passenger in business class, on Tuesday, Air India has called the licence suspension of the pilot in charge of the flight “excessive”.

It, in fact, said the company will be assisting him with an appeal. However, the airline also accepted that the incident was not classified correctly, in keeping with the Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR).

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“The crew and ground staff have been issued warning letters to henceforth adhere strictly to CAR definition of “unruly”, when reporting incidents onboard, so that later investigation can assess the facts. The cabin crew and ground staff have been counselled and have since returned to duty,” it said.

“We have reviewed our existing in-flight alcohol service policy taking reference from other carriers’ practice and input from the US National Restaurants Association’s guidelines. The new policy has now been promulgated to crew and included in training curricula. Air India remains committed to the safety and well-being of our passengers and cabin crew, including but not limited to the responsible service of alcohol,” Air India’s spokesperson said in another statement shared with DH.

This comes days after DGCA issued show cause notices to the airline, imposed a Rs 30 lakh penalty on Air India for violating its norms on handling unruly passenger behaviour on flight and slapped a Rs 3 lakh penalty on the director of inflight services. The pilot-in-command’s licence was suspended for a period of three months for failing to discharge his duties as per the rules.

On the other side, the All India Cabin Crew Association (AICCA) demanded a rollback on the de-rostering of the crew that operated the NY- Delhi flight and criticised the suspension of the commander (pilot) Captain Narayan Ramprasad.

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“It baffles us that despite DGCA having access to all official reports and emails of the crew which were filed immediately upon landing and the meticulously drafted responses to the show cause notices issued by your office, the regulator has gone ahead and concluded that the pilot in command has failed to discharge his duties,” argued the letter to the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), signed by various cabin crew and pilot bodies dated January 24, 2023.

A day earlier, AICCA also said that the report filed by Air India's appointed Internal Complaint Committee (ICC) and submitted to the regulator was flawed as there is no 9B seat on the plane (B737-300 ER) where Shankar Mishra is said to have relieved himself.

“The DGCA isn't supposed to be a loose canon and trigger-happy with taking punitive action against airlines arbitrarily. In the matter concerning Air India the airline's accountable manager must be held responsible as the entire operation and management of the airline come under his authority according to the DGCAs own CAP regulations,” observed Mark Martin, CEO of Martin Consulting.