Monday, September 17, 2018

India to fine pilots for something they can’t do: Dump excreta from air

New Delhi: Giving in to pressure from the National Green Tribunal (NGT), the Directorate General of Civil Aviation late last month ordered airlines that they would have to pay a fine of Rs 50,000 if they dump human waste mid-flight.

This was a follow-up of a 2016 NGT order to penalise airlines releasing such waste in the air.

But here’s the catch: Airlines, aircraft manufacturers, aviation experts and the DGCA itself all agree that it is practically not possible to drop human waste from aircraft — whether while flying, landing or taking off.

In January this year, an incident like this had come to light when a heavy ball of ice, suspected to be frozen waste from an aircraft, landed in the village of Fazilpur Badli in Haryana.

DGCA chief B.S. Bhullar refused to comment on the issue since the matter is sub-judice, but all other experts said it could only have been an accidental leak — it just isn’t possible to release waste manually.

But hearings at the NGT are set to go on — the next one is set for Monday, 17 September.
17/09/18 Ifrah Mufti/The Print
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