Air India crew sends SOS to director general of civil aviation

Mumbai: Twenty irate passengers held a 12-member Air India [AI] crew and 200 fellow passengers hostage for more than 12 hours at the Mumbai airport on January 2. Stunned by the incident, the Air India Cabin Crew Association [AICCA] now wants the director general of civil aviation [DGCA] to address a host of issues concerning passenger and aircraft safety.
The AICCA has written a letter to the DGCA, urging that clear-cut rules be laid down for handling such incidents in future. “There have been cases of passengers misbehaving with the crew.
The AI has promptly lodged police complaints in such cases. But this time, the airline did nothing,” Sanjay Lazar, general secretary of the AICCA, said. “We want the DGCA to specify what is a reasonable period to expect the crew to stay in attendance on board with passengers.”
The day the incident happened, the pilot-in-command was not on board. In the event of a recurrence of such a situation, the AICCA has asked the DGCA to name a substitute who would be taking decisions.
06/01/10 Naveeta Singh/Daily News & Analysis

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Categories: NACIL Jan 2010