After Air India urination incident, DGCA’s says ‘use handcuff-like restraints’ to control unruly passengers

After an incident aboard an Air India flight where a man allegedly urinated on a woman mid-air, the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued an important advisory for airlines in India that have to deal with unruly passengers.

Stating that non-action or inappropriate action by the airlines towards untoward incidents has tarnished the image of air travel, aviation regulator DGCA said on Friday that cabin crew should use restraining devices when all conciliatory approaches are exhausted.

This comes as several incidents were reported where pilots and cabin crew were unable to take action when a passenger became unruly or lost control after the plane had taken off, a similar situation to the one where a man allegedly urinated on a woman, and was let off the plane without action.

A senior DGCA official said that they recommend devices kept in aircraft cabins used to restrain unruly passengers of level 3 type i.e abusive physically violent category. The device looks like a handcuff and some airlines like Air Asia are already keeping this aboard the flight.

The DGCA referred to the rules describing the responsibility of cabin crew for handling unruly passengers and defusing a critical situation until it becomes clear that there is no way to resolve it through verbal communication and written notice to the passengers.

It also referred to the rule which makes cabin crew responsible for informing the passenger of the repercussions and consequences of such unruly behaviour.

The advisory also mentioned the rule which makes the pilot in command responsible for assessing the situation quickly if the cabin crew can control the situation and accordingly relay this information to the airline’s central control on the ground for further action.

This comes after a woman filed a complaint that a drunk man had urinated on her while she was aboard an Air India flight, and the cabin crew did not take any action against the accused. The incident has been reported weeks after it took place on the flight.

(With inputs from agencies)

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