New Delhi, Aug 9: Union Minister for Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu, has ordered a probe after an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer said his family was "racially discriminated" by the British Airways last month.

Prabhu said the Civil Aviation Ministry, in coordination with the Ministry of External Affairs, will investigate the matter and follow up with their UK counterparts.

Prabhu's statements came shortly after the complainant spoke to reporters marking his grievance. The IAS officer, AP Pathak, said the incident occurred on July 23, when he boarded the Berlin-bound flight from London.

On-board, he claimed, his three-year-old child started crying which compelled the airlines staff to act against them. "A flight attendant came and threatened to offload us if our kid doesn’t keep quiet and after a while, he called security and we were offloaded," the 1984-batch officer said, while speaking to news agency ANI.

Pathak claimed he had written a letter to the Civil Aviation and External Affairs ministries narrating the ordeal. But he was yet to receive an official reply till earlier today.

"It was an act of racial discrimination. I request an apology and compensation for the harassment of an Indian," said the officer.

Reacting to the incident, the British Airways on Thursday issued a statement assuring the passengers that the carrier does not practices racial discrimination.

"We take such claims like this extremely seriously and do not tolerate discrimination of any kind. We have started a full investigation and are in direct contact with the customer,” a British Airways spokesperson said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 09, 2018 05:05 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).