Air India Flight Urination Incident: DGCA Slaps <span Class='webrupee'>₹</span>30 Lakh Penalty On Airline

The incident of passenger misbehaviour, wherein a male passenger conducted himself in a disorderly manner and allegedly relieved himself on a female passenger, occurred on AI-102 New York-Delhi flight on 26 November 2022, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said.

It had come to the notice of DGCA on 4 January.

The regulator has also suspended the licence of the pilot-in-command for a period of three months for failing to discharge his duties as per Rule 141 of the Aircraft Rules, 1937, and applicable DGCA Civil Aviation Requirements. A penalty of ₹3 lakh has been imposed on director-in-flight services at Air India for failing to discharge her duties as per applicable DGCA Civil Aviation Requirements.

On 5 January, the regulator had said that prima facie it has emerged that provisions related to handling of an unruly passenger on-board have not been complied with. “The conduct of the concerned airline appears to be unprofessional and has led to a systemic failure,“it had said.

The regulator had then issued a show-cause notice to the airline’s accountable manager, director in-flight services, all pilots and cabin crew of the flight as to why enforcement action should not be taken against them for dereliction of regulatory obligations.

The respondents were given two weeks‘ time and the DGCA imposed penalties after examination of the written reply of Air India and the personnel involved.

The accused in the incident, Shankar Mishra, has been banned from flying with Air India for four months after an internal committee determined on 19 January that he was an unruly passenger who urinated on a co-passenger. Mishra, a senior executive at US financial services firm Wells Fargo, has since been terminated by his employer. Delhi Police also arrested Mishra from Bengaluru on 7 January, and he has been sent to 14-day judicial custody.