The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) on Tuesday issued a show cause notices to IndiGo airline and Mumbai airport after a video of passengers sitting and eating food on the tarmac amid flight delays went viral on social media.
The Ministry said that after the incident, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia held a meeting with ministry officials over the matter and issued notices to the airline and Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL).
According to the notices, “both Indigo and MIAL were not proactive in anticipating the situation and making the appropriate facilitation arrangements for passengers at the airport”.
The notices came after many passengers were seen rushing out of an IndiGo aircraft at the Mumbai airport, sitting on the tarmac, and some even having food there, after their diverted Goa-Delhi flight landed after a long delay on January 14.
Viral Video:
passengers of IndiGo Goa-Delhi who after 12 hours delayed flight got diverted to Mumbai having dinner just next to indigo plane pic.twitter.com/jGL3N82LNS— JΛYΣƧΉ (@baldwhiner) January 15, 2024
The ministry noted that “the aircraft was allotted a remote bay C-33 (instead of a Contact Stand – an aircraft parking stand that is suitable for walking passengers to and from an aircraft from an allocated boarding gate), which further added to passenger woes and deprived them the opportunity to avail basic facilities like restrooms and refreshments at the terminal”.
“This resulted in an unfavourable, unacceptable experience for the tired and harassed passengers. The flight operation was planned and executed without taking passenger convenience, laid down security norms and the operational issues into account,” it added.
MoCA Warns Of Financial Penalty
The MoCA has asked both IndiGo and airport authorities to reply to the notices by today, January 16.
“If replies are not received in the given time then enforcement action including financial penalty will be initiated,” it said.
Notice To IndiGo
As per the Ministry, the notice to IndiGo has been issued for the violation of Rule 51 of the Aircraft (Security) Rules, 2023, Aviation Security Order 02/2019 and order dated September 21, 2021, regarding failure to observe due aviation security procedures in respect of Flight no. 6E 2195 which landed at Mumbai airport at 11:21 pm on January 14 as a diversion case.
The notice said that Indigo allowed the disembarkation of passengers from flight 6E 2195 onto the apron and then boarded them on to flight 6E 2091 on January 15 at Mumbai airport, without following the procedure of security screening, which violates the above-mentioned orders.
Further, the incident was not reported to the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) by the aircraft operator which is attributed to a violation of Rule 51 of the Aircraft (Security) Rules, 2023.
After the notice, the airline issued a press statement and said, “IndiGo has already initiated an internal enquiry to address the issue and will be responding to the notice as per protocol.”
Notice To Mumbai Airport
The show-cause notice to Mumbai Aiport has been issued for the violation of Rule 51 of the Aircraft (Security) Rules, 2023 which is regarding failure to report an incident in respect of Flight no. 6E 2195 which landed at the Mumbai Airport.
The ASG of Mumbai was also not forewarned about the situation, the Ministry said.
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