The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has initiated a probe after an Air India pilot allegedly allowed a female friend into the cockpit, on a Dubai-Delhi flight on February 27. The incident is a violation of the DGCA's safety norms.
According to news reports, the DGCA was alerted about the incident through a complaint made by a crew member. The complaint alleges that the captain wanted the crew to make sure the cockpit appeared welcoming before inviting his friend in, and asked that she be served food served in business class, Hindustan Times reported.
The report further stated that the pilot asked the crew member to bring pillows for his friend, and to also serve her drinks and snacks in the cockpit. “While she was inside, the crew was summoned multiple times, during the passenger service on the short Delhi- Dubai sector, to offer her business class fare food and snacks. Though it interrupted the flow of service all requests were promptly catered to,” the complaint said.
The crew member also alleged that the captain behaved rudely to her after she declined his request to serve drinks in the cockpit.
The DGCA has summoned the flight crew in connection with the probe on Friday.
Air India has been plagued by recent incidents of unruly passenger behaviour and was slapped with penalties by the DGCA after a drunk male passenger allegedly urinated on an elderly woman in January. Amid these controversies that dented the image of the Tata group-owned airline, the in-flight alcohol service policy was also revised.
