New Delhi: Cracking the whip against negligent Air India employees, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju yesterday suspended ground handling and security officers for lapses in detecting a dummy grenade in one of the airline's planes that was to operate from Jeddah to Mumbai.
According to a civil aviation ministry spokesperson, staff that were involved in clearing the aircraft for operations were suspended, including officials from the security branch.
The minister, who contradicted Air India's denial that no lethal object was found in its aircraft, will hold a high level meeting with senior airline officials to find out the reasons for the security lapse.
Earlier in the day, the minister confirmed that a dummy grenade was found in the aircraft and might have been left there after a security drill that was carried out in the aircraft before it was pressed into duty.
"It was a dummy grenade that was left in the aircraft after a security drill. It is a failure that it was not spotted. An investigation has been ordered. We are going to investigate the failure and even the authorities at Jeddah airport are going to do the same," Gajapathi Raju said.
05/10/14 IANS/India TV News
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According to a civil aviation ministry spokesperson, staff that were involved in clearing the aircraft for operations were suspended, including officials from the security branch.
The minister, who contradicted Air India's denial that no lethal object was found in its aircraft, will hold a high level meeting with senior airline officials to find out the reasons for the security lapse.
Earlier in the day, the minister confirmed that a dummy grenade was found in the aircraft and might have been left there after a security drill that was carried out in the aircraft before it was pressed into duty.
"It was a dummy grenade that was left in the aircraft after a security drill. It is a failure that it was not spotted. An investigation has been ordered. We are going to investigate the failure and even the authorities at Jeddah airport are going to do the same," Gajapathi Raju said.
05/10/14 IANS/India TV News
