DGCA probe against Air Deccan cramming passengers

The Director General of Civil Aviation has launched a probe into the Thursday night Patna airport fiasco in which an Air Deccan flight attempted to take off with excess passengers on board. "We have ordered an investigation into the incident. The air safety official at Kolkata will collect documents from Patna and direct it to Delhi. All evidence will be thoroughly scrutinised," DGCA K Gohain said on Friday. Airports Authority of India regional executive director (east) S P S Baxi has also launched an independent probe into the shocking incident. The cabin crew staff on the Ranchi-Patna-Delhi flight DN 726/727 had attempted to 'accommodate' excess passengers in the flight by asking parents to carry children on the lap. The blatant violation of elementary air safety norm on aircraft weight was spotted by securitymen at the last minute.

The surplus passengers nine in all and not six as reported on Friday were forced off the aircraft. The passengers Mr Dharam Veer Kumar, S Bhardwaj (minor), Mrs M Bharadwaj, Mrs V L Singh, Mr B N Singh, Mrs S Singh, Mr P K Sharma, Mr A Singh an Mr G Rawal were accommodated in a late night Jet Airways flight. Air Deccan though claimed there were only five people who were overbooked and subsequently offloaded and booked on Jet Airways. "I have asked the airport director at Patna to investigate the matter," Baxi said. TOI had been alerted about the gross violation by a passenger on board the aircraft. "The cabin staff is pleading with parents to take their children on the lap. Four sets of parents have agreed but others are are refusing," Mriganko Tripathy told on phone from the aircraft.

The bizzare behaviour of the flight crew has sent shock waves through the industry. "The trim sheet that entails the carriage weight (passengers, luggage and fuel) is sacroscant. Last minute tampering with it is harakiri," remarked a veteran Airbus A-320 pilot. Air safety watchdog DGCA has average weight of adults, children and infants laid down in its guidelines for computing the trim sheet. Expressing regret at inconvenience caused to passengers, Air Deccan chief operating officer Warwick Brady said the matter was under investigation. "The load is always within aircraft limits. According to airline safety norms, infants do not get separate seats on the aircraft. They are seated with parents," he said, choosing to remain silent on the fact that the guidelines also stipulate that children above two years have to be compulsorily allotted seats and cannot travel on lap.

Courtesy: Times of India

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