New Delhi, October 09: India’s aviation regulator is not convinced by Air India’s explanation that its cockpit was not left unmanned during a mid-air scuffle aboard an international flight on Saturday and said on Thursday that it would probe the incident.
“The DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) is not convinced by Air India’s explanation and will investigate if the cockpit was left unmanned by the pilots during the incident,” said a senior official at the civil aviation ministry.
The incident took place aboard the IC-884 flight that was also reportedly left unmanned during the mid-air scuffle that broke out between the pilots and cabin crew on Saturday. But Air India on Monday denied the flight remained unmanned during the scuffle.
“We are also concerned. How did the flight purser Amit Khanna get into a scuffle with the pilot? Doesn’t he know how to act inside the cockpit,” asked the official.
Earlier this week, the state-run carrier suspended a pilot and a flight purser who were involved in the scuffle and put off duty the co-pilot and air hostess concerned. The incident is understood to have originated in some verbal exchanges between the two sides during the pre-flight briefing session ahead of take-off from Sharjah.
The Airbus A-320 from Sharjah was carrying 106 passengers and seven crew and had reached Lucknow when the matter was reported. The president of the Indian Commercial Pilot’s Association Shail-endra Singh spoke in favour of the pilots and said they were not at fault.
–Agencies