 "Pee-gate saga continues: Inebriated man caught urinating on flight")
Another case of a passenger urinating on a flight has come to light. The passenger allegedly urinated, defecated and spat in an Air India aircraft during a Mumbai-Delhi flight. The flight captain filed a complaint stating that the incident occurred on June 24, and the man was subsequently arrested at the airport.
The accused passenger, a cook working in Africa, was travelling to Mumbai on Air India flight AI 866.
The cabin crew noticed the misconduct during the flight and issued a verbal warning. The captain was also informed, and the company was immediately notified. Airport security was requested to escort the passenger upon arrival.
Fellow passengers were also angered, and upon landing at Delhi airport, the head of Air India security accompanied the accused passenger to the police station.
"On the complaint of the flight captain, Delhi Police registered a case -- u/s 294/510 -- at IGI police station and arrested the accused passenger. We produced him before a court which granted him bail. Further investigation is underway," said a senior official of Delhi Police to ANI.
According to a report by The Hindu, the accused has been arrested under IPC sections 294 (obscene acts and songs) and 510 (misconduct in public by a drunken person). From these filings, it can be ascertained that the passenger may have been under the influence of alcohol.
This is another incident in a series of reports about similar misconduct on flights.
The first report came out in January regarding an inebriated male passenger who had urinated on a senior citizen seated in business class while flying from the United States to India on an Air India flight on November 26.
The incident made headlines after the accused, Shankar Mishra, was arrested for his misconduct on January 6. Mishra was sent to judicial custody for 14 days and reportedly lost his job at Wells Fargo, a major financial service provider in the US, where he served as vice president of the organisation's India chapter.
A few days after this report came another similar incident where an inebriated man urinated on the blanket of a female co-passenger on a flight from Paris to Delhi. This second incident happened on December 6 on Air India flight 142, and the aircraft's pilot reported the matter to the Air Traffic Control (ATC) at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport.
However, while the drunk passenger was apprehended when the flight deboarded, the woman passenger chose not to file a police case and accepted a written apology from the man, according to airport officials.
Is banning alcohol the solution?
These back-to-back reports shocked and angered the public, with many even demanding the ban of alcohol on international flights. However, a report by MoneyControl in January stated that airlines have had to deny boarding or deboard drunken passengers who were able to access alcohol before arriving at the flight gate.
Alcohol is accessible in airports, and even if a complete ban was put on, passengers can still carry alcohol undetected to a certain point or show up at the airport inebriated. It should be noted that alcohol is banned on domestic flights in India. The responsibility, therefore, lies with the individual and airlines. It also raises questions about whether these incidents are on the rise or were always an issue and had not been brought to the public's attention before.
Misconduct on flights continue
Despite all the discourse surrounding misconduct on flights and the DGCA issuing strict guidelines for the same, in April, another Indian man travelling from New York to Delhi was apprehended at the airport for allegedly urinating on his co-passenger.
This time the incident took place on board American Airlines flight AA 292, and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) apprehended the passenger after the plane landed at IGI Airport.
The airline reported the matter to the Delhi airport, and the victim passenger filed a formal complaint with the Delhi police.
According to the Civil Aviation Rules, if a passenger is found guilty of unruly behaviour, besides action under criminal law, the passenger is banned from flying for a particular period, depending on the level of the offence.
Actions against misconduct on flights
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has established guidelines to address disruptive passengers. Airlines must create their own set of procedures and train their staff on handling such situations.
Under the DGCA's rule, disruptive behaviour is divided into three levels. Level 1 includes actions like physical gestures, verbal harassment, and being drunk and disorderly. Level 2 involves physically abusive behaviour such as pushing, hitting, kicking, or sexual harassment. Level 3 incidents are the most serious, involving actions that threaten life, like damaging aircraft systems or carrying out violent attacks.
As per the procedure, pilots must inform the airline's control room about the situation on board. If necessary, the flight may be diverted, and upon landing, a police case can be filed.
The guidelines also require airlines to form a committee of three members, independent of the airline, to decide whether to place the disruptive passenger on a no-fly list within 30 days. The airline must maintain a database of disruptive passengers and inform the DGCA and other airlines about them.
Other airlines may also ban individuals on the no-fly list from travelling to, from, or within India. The length of the ban depends on the severity of the offence:
- Level 1 (disruptive behaviour): Up to 3 months
- Level 2 (physically abusive behaviour): Up to 6 months
- Level 3 (life-threatening behaviour): A minimum of 2 years or longer, with no maximum limit.
In addition, the police can file a legal case against the disruptive passenger under various sections of the Indian Penal Code.
Individuals identified as a national security risk by the Ministry of Home Affairs can be prevented from flying as long as they are perceived as a risk.