Flyers have been left shocked lately with multiple incidents – linked to airlines – being reported. From passengers urinating on co-flyers to bomb hoax, and another incident where over 50 passengers were left behind by a domestic carrier, concerns have been raised over mismanagement and inconvenience. Aviation regulator DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) has taken note of some of these incidents, and it even sent a notice to airlines on tackling of unruly passengers.
Here is a glance at some of the latest shockers:
Over 50 passengers left behind: In the latest incident, 55 passengers were left behind by low-cost airline, Go First, at the Bengaluru airport while the flight to Delhi took off. “Multiple mistakes” have been flagged by the DGCA in the matter, which has sent a show cause notice, such as lack of proper communication, coordination, reconciliation, and confirmation resulted in a “highly avoidable situation”.
Bomb scare: On Monday, a Goa-bound flight from Moscow was diverted to Jamnagar in Gujarat following a bomb scare. “We feel that the bomb threat was a hoax e-mail,” Jamnagar collector Saurabh Pardhi said on Tuesday, HT reported. All 236 passengers and eight crew members were evacuated safely and the plane was checked by the police along with local authorities and the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) but found nothing, the official further said.
Vistara flight: The aviation regulator took note of another incident when a Bhubaneswar-bound Vistara flight returned to Delhi after experiencing a hydraulic system issue. “A minor technical snag was detected shortly after take-off on Vistara flight UK 781 operating from Delhi to Bhubaneswar on 09 January 2023. As a precautionary step the pilots decided to turn-back and the aircraft landed safely at the IGI Airport, Delhi. The inconvenience caused to customers is deeply regretted. As always, safety of our customers and crew is most important to Vistara,” an official statement from the airline read. An alternate aircraft was later arranged.
Air India faces heat: Air India – which was last year acquired by the Tata group – has been facing heat over a man urinating on an elderly co-passenger on the November 26 New York-Delhi flight. The DGCA on Monday also issued fresh show cause notice to the airline for not reporting two incidents on the December 6 Paris to Delhi flight where one passenger urinated on a woman’s blanket when she was in the washroom and another drunk passenger smoked near the lavatory disobeying the crew and civil aviation rules (CAR).
Meanwhile, another video has emerged of a shirtless man fighting a co-passenger on board a Boeing 777 operated by Biman Bangladesh Airlines. While HT is unable to verify the authenticity of video in the incident, this is just another example of chaos prevailing mid-air.
