The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has slapped Air India with Rs 30 lakh fine over 80-year-old passenger's death. On February 12th, the passenger collapsed and died after walking from the aircraft to the airport terminal at Mumbai due to the non-availability of a wheel-chair.
According to media reports, an octogenarian Air India passenger had requested for a wheelchair at the Mumbai airport. However, he decided to walk as he was asked to wait due to heavy demand for wheelchair, died after collapsing at the time of immigration process.
Following this, the DGCA issued a show-cause notice to Air India, demanding a response within seven days. After reviewing the response, the regulator found Air India guilty and imposed a fine of Rs 30 lakh.
Air India had said that the passenger's wife had been provided a wheelchair and staff had asked him to wait while they arranged another one. But he instead chose to walk to the terminal with his wife.
"One of our guests flying from New York to Mumbai on 12th February fell ill while proceeding to clear immigration with his wife, who was in a wheelchair. Due to heavy demand for wheelchairs, we had requested the passenger to wait till he was also provided with wheelchair assistance but he opted to walk along with his spouse," Air India said
DGCA on examination had found that Air India had not complied with the norms which specifically addresses the "Carriage by Air - Persons with Disability (Divyangjan) and/or Persons with Reduced Mobility." This failure to adhere to the regulations outlined in Aircraft Rules, 1937, prompted the fine on the airline.
The DGCA added that Air India did not inform authorities about any action taken by the airline against the erring employee(s) and the airline also failed to submit any corrective actions taken to prevent the recurrence of such incidents in the future.
The regulator has also issued an advisory to all airlines to ensure that an adequate number of wheelchairs are available for passengers who require assistance during embarking or disembarking from the aircraft during their journey.
Air India has also said that it is in constant touch with the family members of the bereaved and is extending necessary assistance. It also added that that it has a clearly laid down policy to offer wheelchair assistance to all passengers who pre-book the same.
In the past 12 months, DGCA has fined Air India 9 times of around Rs 4 crore. Earlier, the airline was fined Rs 1.10 crore over allegations of safety violations of flights on certain long-range terrain critical routes.