Air India fined Rs 10 lakh for not reporting Unruly passengers smoking & urinating on seat during flight

New Delhi: Air India has been fined for the second time in less than a week by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). This time the DGCA has slapped a Rs 10 lakh fine on Air India for not reporting another incident of unruly passenger behaviour on board the AI-142 flight from Paris to New Delhi on December 6, 2022.

On that day one passenger was caught smoking in the lavatory of the plane. He was drunk and not adhering to the instructions of the crew members. Another passenger allegedly urinated on a vacant seat and the blanket of a female co-passenger when she was not there.

DGCA came to know about these happenings on January 5 and issued a show-cause notice to the Accountable Manager of Air India. The airline submitted its reply to the notice on January 23.

Now the DGCA has imposed a fine on Air India for not reporting the incident to the concerned authorities in time.

On January 20, DGCA imposed a Rs 30 lakh fine on Air India and Rs 3 lakh fine on its Director, In-Flight Services for violation of applicable rules and failure to discharge their duties in the handling of a similar incident. It was the incident of a male passenger urinating on a fellow female passenger on board an Air India New York – New Delhi flight on November 26, 2022. The DGCA has also suspended the licence of the pilot-in-command of this flight for four months.