The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) also criticized IndiGo for failing to avoid the frenzied behavior of the aircraft when landing in Mumbai by allowing so many “big cameras” on the flight and not anticipating the consequences that were eventually witnessed.
Citing aircraft rules, the DGCA issued an order on Saturday that read: “No person shall take, make or allow to be taken, at a government aerodrome or from an aircraft in flight, any photograph except in accordance with and subject to the terms and conditions of a written permit granted by (certain designated aviation officials)… However, this permit is not applicable when such aircraft is landing, taking off or on the ground at a defense aerodrome.
“Despite these regulations, it has been observed that on occasion, airlines have failed to comply with these stipulations mainly due to lack of diligence on their part. Needless to say, such deviations result in a commitment to maintaining the most high security standards and therefore not allowed. ”
“With this in mind, it has been decided that from now on, should such a violation occur on any scheduled passenger aircraft, the flight schedule for that particular route will be suspended for a period of two weeks at from the next day, which is the next day and will only be restored after the airline has taken all the necessary punitive actions against those responsible for the infraction ”, he adds.
The DGCA opined that IndiGo’s ground staff in Chandigarh should not have allowed so many “big cameras” on board the flight to Mumbai on Wednesday. If the airline’s ground crew felt they couldn’t stop the passengers, they should have gotten help from security personnel, he noted.
In a forceful letter to IndiGo President and COO Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, after examining the airline’s report, the DGCA said: “… several violations have occurred that day and IndiGo was not only unable to prevent the incident, but that neither take adequate and effective corrective measures. The violations are as follows: Several people from the media brought their cameras and recorded them while boarding the flight in Chandigarh. They also made recordings and live broadcasts inside the passenger cabin without any express permission from the DGCA for the same. However, the crew did not inform the CISF about these activities and did not stop them. Such laxity on the part of the crew results in a violation of the rules. ”
“During boarding, during the flight and even after landing, the passengers disobeyed the instructions given by the crew and therefore appear to indulge in unruly behavior (which) again is a violation of the provisions of (rules ) … the airline has not taken any action in this regard. ”
“Airline personnel (including ground personnel) and passengers are considered not to follow the guidelines prescribed in the standard operating procedure regarding the Covid-19 protocol. This amounts to a violation of the Covid-19 protocol prescribed by the Ministry of Aviation to conduct air travel In view of the above, IndiGo must initiate appropriate action against all those who are responsible for the above-mentioned violations of the regulatory provisions and guidelines and submit a report of action taken within 15 days otherwise appropriate action will be taken against the airline. ”He adds.
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