New Delhi/Mumbai: The latest mid-air urinating incident is not an isolated one. Present and former cabin crew members say that over the years many such ‘dark tales’ have gone unreported only to be discussed behind closed doors. This spiral of silence is now being broken by what took place aboard the Delhi-bound Air India flight. Questions are being raised about whether the protocols on paper are actually being followed.
“Some passengers think that when they buy a flight ticket, they have bought the plane, the crew and everyone else. This feeling of entitlement needs to be stopped by penalising fliers who violate norms with strict punishments,” said former flight attendant Nitya Wallia.
She added that it is the duty of ground staff to alert and take action when a passenger is already intoxicated. “De-escalation is one of the crucial things that need to be noted. The crew not only needs to be trained, but the management must also stand with them in these issues,” Wallia said.
In this case, the Air India legal team only notified the Delhi police about the incident on 28 December, over a month after it took place. The company’s CEO, Campbell Wilson, said that it was because the family of the victim only requested a police complaint on 26 December. An FIR was filed Wednesday and Shankar Mishra, the accused, was arrested Saturday.
But according to aviation protocol, any untoward incident must be reported by the commander of the flight — the captain — through the flight report immediately upon landing. It is then forwarded by the airline to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
“The flight report mentioning the incident must be filed immediately. It doesn’t matter if the parties have settled, the airline and its crew have to report it to the authorities. Their mutual settlement is for the law enforcement agencies to verify and evaluate,” a top source in the civil aviation ministry said.
Shaunak Bhagwate, a former flight attendant with 18 years of experience with an Indian airline, noted that rules are rarely practised.
“There have been several instances when passengers are intoxicated. When I would tell the captain, he would say it’s your call to offload the passenger. But that would have consequences for me — I would get a memo and the airline would de-roster me. Management questions the crew, so we don’t generally complain,” he said.
Also Read: Air India incident shows Indians are world’s worst passengers. Fine them, arrest them
Stinking feet and drunken altercations
“My wife doesn’t talk to servants” — this is what an Indian passenger told a cabin crew member on an international flight when she asked the said wife for her meal preference. The matter, the former flight attendant told ThePrint, was immediately reported to the captain and the passenger was asked to apologise.
“These peeing incidents aren’t one of a kind,” she added.
She narrated an incident that took place on a flight from Bengaluru to Frankfurt where an Indian passenger urinated in a cup. “He was already drunk before boarding but the captain ruled that he be allowed to board. He was downgraded from business class to economy. However soon after boarding, he peed in a cup and kept it on his tray table.”
She claimed that no one saw the action, including her, because it was past midnight at the lights were off. No one complained but she knew what had happened due to the foul odour from the cup.
She didn’t touch the cup.“When he woke up, he asked me if it was apple juice. I told him to see for himself. He had no recollection of what happened,” she said. The matter was escalated to the pilot who then alerted the security in Frankfurt. The man was arrested as soon as he landed, she claimed.
Some other drunk passengers are very picky about where they relive themselves. Shweta Bhagwate, a former flight attendant with a domestic airline recalls that sometime in 2017, on a Hong Kong-Mumbai, an inebriated passenger with an economy class seat was insistent on using the washroom in business class.
“The crew allowed it after he kept insisting. But he was inside for over 15 minutes and wasn’t responding to being called,” she said. Fearing a medical situation, the crew kept knocking on the door until the man opened it.
“He was so drunk he was unable to stand and a male crew member had to escort him out. He then started slapped a male flight attendant and started yelling and shouting at the rest of us,” she said.
The matter was escalated and airport security came to unload the passenger when the flight landed. “But he had a connecting flight to catch and the security said it’s the airline’s call,” Bhagwate said, adding he was eventually let off the hook to catch his next flight.
When asked if a flight report was filed she said it was but alleged that nothing came of it and no action was taken.
Ira Merani, also a former flight attendant recalled a different kind of drunken episode on a Delhi-Frankfurt flight. “The inebriated passenger came up very close to me in a tiny galley. I felt extremely uncomfortable. I alerted my male colleague and asked him to intervene. The moment my male colleague reached, the passenger collapsed. The situation changed from harassment to a medical case.”
They administered first aid to the man and he recovered before landing, she claimed.
It’s not just Indian men that behave inappropriately. Former flight attendant Sangita Bhagat shared how a Russian male passenger once walked up to her and touched her on her shoulder instead of pressing the call button. She felt uncomfortable with the action and told him so, at which point the passenger got slightly aggressive, she claimed.
“I informed the pilot and he made an announcement that passengers must adhere to the rules. After that, the passenger apologised,” she said.
Conflict between passengers is also a common occurrence. She recalls two Indian male passengers in the same row on a Dubai-Mumbai flight fought after one removed his shoes and moved them towards the other. The latter told him his feet were stinking, which lead to an altercation. The crew had to change their seats eventually.
Also Read: Air India crew hide greys, follow strict makeup while global airlines allowing tattoo, piercing
Did Air India follow protocol?
Air India told DGCA on 5 January, a day after an FIR was filed, that they didn’t inform law enforcement agencies about the incident as the woman “rescinded the initial request for action”. A show cause notice has been issued by the DGCA to all 20 Air India crew on the flight in question. The Ministry of Civil Aviation has sought a detailed report on the matter.
While sources in the ministry of civil aviation told ThePrint that a flight report was filed, sources in Air India confirmed that not only was top management at the airline marked on the mail but at least two members of the civil aviation ministry were informed. ThePrint has reached out to Air India with a set of queries. The report will be updated once a response is received.
In an internal email, Campbell Wilson, CEO and managing director, Air India, reportedly told the staff that an incident “on our aircraft involves improper behaviour of such magnitude, we must report it to authorities at the earliest opportunity, even if we genuinely believe that the matter has been settled between the parties involved”.
In a statement Saturday, Wilson said that four cabin crew members and a pilot have been issued internal show cause notices and de-rostered pending investigation.
The Delhi Police has also issued summons to eight crew members including the pilot of the Air India flight. Sources confirmed that four crew members have already joined the investigation.
“Internal investigations into whether there were lapses by other staff are ongoing on aspects including the service of alcohol on the flight, incident handling, complaint registration on board and grievance handling,” Wilson’s statement said.
He added that upon receipt of the complaint by the aggrieved passenger, the airline got in touch with the woman and her family on 30 November. They commenced a refund of the ticket on 2 December, with the receipt of funds acknowledged by the victim’s family on 16 December.
An internal committee was formed on 10 December to review the matter after which a 30-day ban was enforced on Mishra. He added that four meetings were held — 20, 21, 26 and 30 December — between senior airline staff, the victim and her family to discuss actions taken and progress.
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)
Also Read: ‘Failed to establish safe services’: DGCA show-cause to Spicejet for repeated malfunctions