New Delhi: An Air India pilot was recently forced to walk straight out of detention and operate a long international flight back home — and freedom! In the process, AI reportedly violated safety rules by sending an unrested pilot from detention to the cockpit.
This unprecedented situation arose when an AI 155 touched down in Moscow on November 7. According to sources, the immigration at Moscow's Domodedovo Airport detained the commander of that flight on charges that he had 'falsified' his passport. They confiscated his passport and detained the captain at the airport. The commander wanted to be sent back home on the plane he had flown into Russia but the aircraft had by then taxied out.
The Russian immigration doubts against the AI pilot were misplaced. The senior captain had got his Russian visa on October 29 and operated a Delhi-Moscow flight that very day and commandeered an incident-free return flight.
"I was contacted by the commander's relative and informed about his wrongful detention. I asked our operations to do the needful to immediately secure his release," said AI chief Rohit Nandan. After Nandan's intervention, some Indian officials went to Moscow airport but could not satisfy the authorities there about the veracity of his papers.
As a result, the pilot had to spend 26 hours in detention. AI then asked him to fly back to Delhi by operating flight number 156 on November 9. "AI should have sent an extra pilot to operate AI 156 on that day and have the commander fly to Delhi as a passenger as he was in detention and did not get any rest there apart from suffering tremendous mental agony," said a source.
04/12/14 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India
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This unprecedented situation arose when an AI 155 touched down in Moscow on November 7. According to sources, the immigration at Moscow's Domodedovo Airport detained the commander of that flight on charges that he had 'falsified' his passport. They confiscated his passport and detained the captain at the airport. The commander wanted to be sent back home on the plane he had flown into Russia but the aircraft had by then taxied out.
The Russian immigration doubts against the AI pilot were misplaced. The senior captain had got his Russian visa on October 29 and operated a Delhi-Moscow flight that very day and commandeered an incident-free return flight.
"I was contacted by the commander's relative and informed about his wrongful detention. I asked our operations to do the needful to immediately secure his release," said AI chief Rohit Nandan. After Nandan's intervention, some Indian officials went to Moscow airport but could not satisfy the authorities there about the veracity of his papers.
As a result, the pilot had to spend 26 hours in detention. AI then asked him to fly back to Delhi by operating flight number 156 on November 9. "AI should have sent an extra pilot to operate AI 156 on that day and have the commander fly to Delhi as a passenger as he was in detention and did not get any rest there apart from suffering tremendous mental agony," said a source.
04/12/14 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India
