Months after the Air India urination incident triggered controversy, a similar incident has come to light wherein a passenger of a New York-New Delhi American Airlines flight allegedly urinated on a fellow male passenger on board the flight.
The accused is a student at a US university and was in a state of inebriation, reported PTI. The incident occurred on flight number AA292 which took off from New York at 9:16 pm on Friday and landed after 14 hours and 26 minutes of flying at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport here at 10:12 pm on Saturday.
"He was in a state of inebriation and urinated while he was asleep. It somehow leaked and fell on a fellow passenger who complained to the crew," a source at the airport said.
The report added that the student apologised to the victim, who decided not to report the matter to the police as the incident might affect his career. However, the airline took it seriously and reported it to the Air Traffic Control (ATC) at the IGI airport.
The accused passenger was handed over to the Delhi police by the CISF personnel posted at the airport. This is after the pilot reported the matter to the ATC. "The airline's own security team, along with the CISF, came into action after the incident came to light. The accused was immediately taken into custody once the flight landed. Police are recording the statements of the persons concerned," a source at the airport informed PTI.
This comes after the Air India urination incident wherein Delhi resident Shankar Mishra allegedly urinated on a 70-year-old woman co-passenger in an inebriated state in business class of an Air India flight.
Though the incident happened in November 2022, it came to light in early January via a media report. Mishra was arrested and later released on bail after spending nearly a month in jail.
The DGCA imposed a fine of Rs 30 lakh on Air India for not reporting the matter within 12 hours of the incident following the norm.
Air India had reacted to the incident with its CEO Campbell Wilson stating that the airline could have "handled the matter better." The airline also de-rostered one pilot and four cabin crew members during the incident.
Following the incident, Air India initiated steps to look into aspects including the service of alcohol on the flight, incident handling, complaint registration on board and grievance handling.
