NEW DELHI: An Indian national flying to Bangkok by an early morning Air India flight allegedly urinated on a co-passenger sitting in front of him on Wednesday, people familiar with the matter said.
The precise circumstances around the incident, which took place on the airline’s AI2336 flight from Delhi, are still unclear. The people cited above said the passenger, who was also flying business class, immediately apologised for his behaviour.
The victim is the top executive of a multinational firm and is yet to press charges. He told the crew that he did not want to waste his time after landing.
An Air India spokesperson confirmed the incident of “unruly passenger behaviour” on its AI2336 flight on April 9.
“The crew followed all laid down procedures, and the matter has been reported to the authorities. In addition to warning the unruly passenger, our crew offered to assist an aggrieved passenger to take up a grievance with authorities in Bangkok, which was declined at the time,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added that the airline will convene a standing independent committee to assess the incident and determine the action, if any, to be taken against the unruly passenger. “Air India continues to follow the SOPs (standing operating procedures) as laid out by DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) in such matters,” the spokesperson said.
According to a person, the incident took place during descent when the passenger on seat 2D urinated on the co-passenger sitting on seat 1D. “The cabin crew learnt about the matter from the passenger sitting on 1D ,” the person said
The passenger seated on 2D was immediately relocated to another seat and given a warning while the crew helped the aggrieved passenger.
The man who urinated on his co-passenger immediately apologised for his behaviour, an airline official said, citing the report filed by the cabin crew.
“When asked by the crew, both the passengers involved refused to file a complaint to the airline,” a second official said.