Extra flyers on board? It’s routine for airlines

New Delhi: The recent discovery of three extra passengers — one ‘adjusted’ in the cockpit and two on cabin crew seats — on an Air India flight has just exposed what has been a routine practice among airlines for years, say industry insiders.
Former DGCA chief Kanu Gohain recalls instances when a woman was caught travelling in the cockpit of a domestic flight with her pet dog some years back. About a decade back, a plane flying from Patna to Delhi had an extra passenger ‘adjusted’ in the toilet!
“There have been such instances in the past. We had to issue an aeronautical information circular (AIC) prescribing who is allowed inside the cockpit. This list included pilots, cabin crew and officers of DGCA, aviation ministry or Met department on observation flights with prior clearance ,” Gohain said. The AIC was meant to serve as a warning-cum-guideline for airline staffers to deter them from accommodating unauthorised passengers on full planes.
Pilots, too, are allowed to travel in cockpit only if on duty and not if they are going on a personal trip. This guideline , too, has been bent ingeniously . Some airlines have an unwritten policy to allow pilots on leave to travel in jump seats. Others give a staff on duty ticket to pilots or engineers going on leave to enable them to travel in the cockpit . Recently, Indian Airlines grounded one of its pilots for flying from travelling from Patna to Delhi on the cockpit’s jump seat on a personal trip.
12/07/09 Saurabh Sinha/Economic Times

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Jul 2009, Safety Jul 2009