Drunk man urinates on female passenger on Air India flight; DGCA seeks report

The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Wednesday (January 4) sought a report from Air India after a female passenger who travelled in an international flight from New York to New Delhi in November alleged that a drunk man urinated on her during the flight, but was let off without any action by airport authorities.

The incident came to light after the female passenger wrote to the Tata Group Chairman, N Chandrasekharan, complaining about the incident and alleging that the cabin crew was highly insensitive to the situation and did not take any action against the culprit.

According to her complaint the incident happened in the business class of the plane, on November 26, 2022.

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The DGCA said it would also take action against those found negligent with respect to the incident.

The incident reportedly occurred shortly after lunchtime when the lights were dimmed inside the cabin. According to the complaint, the man walked to the seat of the female passenger, unzipped his pants, and urinated. He was completely drunk, according to the complaint, and continued to expose his private parts. He only moved when another passenger told him to leave. The woman passenger’s clothes, shoes, and bag were soaked in urine, and the cabin crew reportedly gave her a set of fresh clothes after that.

An Air India spokesperson on Wednesday said it had reported the incident to the police and regulatory authorities for them to further investigate and take any necessary action against the misbehaving passenger.

An airline official said it had set up an internal committee to look into the incident and take appropriate action and probably put the man on a no-fly list.

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“We are aware of the incident involving a passenger who acted inappropriately, affecting another. We have reported the incident to police and regulatory authorities, who will investigate further and take any appropriate action against the misbehaving party. Throughout the investigation and reporting process, we also kept in touch with the aggrieved passenger and her family,” Air India said in a statement.