Urinating Incident on Paris-Delhi Flight: Man Who Urinated on Co-Passenger’s Blanket Was Allowed To Go by CISF After Apology, No Police Report Due to Victim’s Wishes, Says Air India

New Delhi, January 5: Noting that a passenger on Air India Flight 142 from Paris to Delhi on December 6 2022 "relieved himself" on the vacant seat and blanket of a fellow passenger, Air India said on Thursday that the accused was taken into custody by CISF personnel and was allowed to leave as "the victim and the accused reached an understanding". Air India said the crew identified and isolated the offender and reported the incident to authorities and it did not lodge a police report "in deference to the victim's wishes".

The airline's response came after reports of December 6 incident came to light in which a "drunk man urinated on blanket of a co-passenger" while the Air India flight was on its way from Paris to the national capital. The December 6 incident happened days after a man allegedly urinated on an elderly women during an Air India flight between New York-Delhi on November 26 last year. The shocking incidents took place in a gap of 11 days. Air India Flight Horror Repeated! Another Incident of Drunk Passenger Urinating on Co-Flyer Comes Out on Paris-Delhi Flight.

Air India said in its statement that the accused passenger in December 6 incident was taken into custody by CISF personnel and he tendered a written apology. "Air India confirms that a passenger on Air India Flight 142 from Paris to Delhi on December 6, 2022 relieved himself on the vacant seat and blanket of a fellow passenger, when the latter was in the lavatory," the statement said.

"The crew identified and isolated the offender and reported the incident to authorities. The aircraft was met on arrival at Indira Gandhi International Airport and the passenger taken into custody by CISF personnel. "As the victim and the accused reached an understanding, CISF allowed the accused to leave after he tendered a written apology. In deference to the victim's wishes, Air India did not lodge a police report," the statement added. The statement did not say if the accused was inebriated. Urinating Incident: DGCA Issues Show-Cause Notice to Air India, Asks Why Action Should Not Be Taken Against Officials and Crew for Dereliction of Duty.

Sources said that the incident on Air India flight of November 26 from New York to Delhi and again on December 6 from Paris to Delhi was not reported to the regulators. Directorate General of Civil Aviation sources said it appears that "provisions related to handling 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 lacks appreciation of regulatory obligations," a source said.

Sources said the regulatory body particularly showed displeasure over the December 6 incident, which in fact was earlier reported to Delhi's Air Traffic Controller (ATC) about an unruly passenger who urinated on a blanket draped around a female co-passenger in-flight. The offending passenger was pulled aside at Delhi airport but no action was taken as he gave a written apology to the passenger.

On Wednesday, Air India had imposed a 30-day flying ban on a passenger who had allegedly urinated on an elderly co-passenger during a New York-Delhi flight on November 26 last year and Delhi Police has registered a FIR over the shocking incident. While Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) also launched an investigation into the incident, Air India has set up an internal panel to probe whether there were lapses on part of the crew in addressing the situation that caused distress to the woman.

The National Commission for Women has taken cognisance of the incident onboard the Air India flight in which the inebriated male passenger also flashed his private parts at the elderly woman. Air India said on Wednesday that as a first part, it has banned the passenger for 30 days, the maximum it is permitted to unilaterally do so.

The airline said it has taken very serious note of the incident that caused extreme distress to a passenger. The Delhi Police has registered the FIR under sections 354, 509, 510 of the Indian Penal Code and 23 of the Indian Aircraft Act against the man. The police said the incident occurred on November 26 and the airline concerned (Air India) approached the police after a month and two days, i.e., on December 28.

In her letter to the chairman of the Board of Tata Sons, N Chandrasekaran, the woman passenger, who is in her seventies, had termed the flight experience extremely traumatic and expressed deep disappointment over the incident in the business class section of the flight.

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