Air India submits report to DGCA on 'urination' incident onboard New York-Delhi flight

Air India has submitted the report to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) pertaining to the incident of an inebriated male passenger urinating on a female co-passenger in its business class on November 26 last year, said DGCA officials on Thursday.

According to officials, currently, the DGCA is examining the report.

In a shocking incident, a man allegedly urinated on an elderly woman co-passenger during a New York-Delhi flight in November last year. The shocking incident occurred on November 26 when the flight was on its way from John F Kennedy international airport in New York to Delhi. The inebriated male passenger allegedly urinated on an elderly woman and flashed his private parts.

Meanwhile, taking serious note of the Air India urination incident, the Ministry of Civil Aviation directed the airline to conduct an internal probe into the matter and submit the report as soon as possible, said top government sources on Thursday.

"Ministry of Civil Aviation takes serious note on Air India urination case. MoCA has asked Air India to provide all the details of the incident. MoCA has also asked Air India to hold an internal probe into the matter and submit the report as soon as possible. The probe should be time-bound," the top government sources told ANI.

Meanwhile, Delhi Police said that the man who allegedly urinated on an elderly woman co-passenger onboard an Air India flight was a resident of Mumbai and will be arrested at the earliest.

"The accused is a resident of Mumbai, but his possible location is in some other state and the police team has reached there. We will arrest the accused at the earliest," said Delhi Police.

The Police on Wednesday filed an FIR on the shocking incident based on a complaint by Air India.

The police have registered an FIR in the matter under sections 354, 509, and 510 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 23 of the Indian Aircraft Act. Both the accused and the victim are from outside Delhi.

Air India on Wednesday imposed a 30-day flying ban on the passenger.

The victim woman, on which a man allegedly urinated narrated the entire incident and said that the accused "unzipped his pants and peed on her" and kept standing.

In her complaint letter to Grievance Air Sewa, the elderly woman, who is in her 70s, said, "I would like to submit a complaint about my appalling experience travelling with on Air India Business Class Flight AI102, Seat 9A, from JFK to New Delhi on 26 November 2022. During the course of the flight, shortly after lunch was served and the lights were switched off, a male business class passenger seated in 8A walked to my seat, completely inebriated. He unzipped his pants and urinated on me and kept standing there until the person sitting next to me tapped him and told him to go back to his seat, at which point he staggered back to his seat. I immediately got up to notify the stewardess of what had happened. My clothes, shoes and bag were soaked in urine."

"The bag contained my passport, travel documents and currency. The flight staff refused to touch them, sprayed my bag and shoes with disinfectant, and took me to the bathroom and gave me a set of airline pyjamas and socks. I asked the staff for a change of seat but was told that no other seats were available. However, another business class passenger who had witnessed my plight and was advocating for me pointed out that there were seats available in first class. The flight crew told me that the pilot had vetoed giving me a seat in first class. After I had been standing for 20 minutes, one of the senior flight staff offered me the small crew seat used by the airline staff, where I sat for about 2 hours. I was then asked to return to the initial soiled seat. Although the staff had spreadsheets on the seat, the area was still damp and reeking of urine and I refused to sit there. I was then given the steward seat for the rest of the journey," she further said in her letter.

( With inputs from ANI )