The national carrier says the crew failed to secure the plane at Medina allowing the stowaway to hide in the toilet
The national carrier says the crew failed to secure the plane at Medina allowing the stowaway to hide in the toilet
The stowaway onboard Air India Medina-Jaipur flight could not have made it, if the crew would have followed the operation manual.
Air India, which has been blaming the faux pas on the ground handling agency at Medina airport, admitted on Sunday that its crew was equally responsible for the stowaway.
"As per the operation manual, the flight staff reports to the pilot about the number of the passengers on board, securing all doors, toilets and checking emergency services, prior take off," a senior Air India official told MiD DAY.
The official said the crew on board the Haj charter flight failed to "perform their duty properly". "They either did not check the toilets before the plane was airborne or misrepresented the facts to the pilot, who is the supreme authority on the plane," the official said, wishing anonymity.
So far, Air India has only sought an explanation from the ground handling agency at the Medina airport but has now officially admitted to the "lapses". "The airline has not given a clean chit to the crew members. We have sought complete details and once they are there we will decide on the course to be taken in the case. We will take action, if anybody is found guilty," Air India spokesperson Jitendra Bhargava told MiD DAY. "The crew noticed the stowaway only after the plane had been airborne for 30 minutes. He was holding a valid identity card enabling him access to the security zone where the aircraft was parked. He did not pose any threat to the safety and security of the aircraft and the passengers. The person told the crew that he was an Indian national who was desperate to reach home as he was dissatisfied with his employment conditions," Bhargava added.
The flight commander, as per international law, decided to continue the flight after satisfying himself that there was no safety threat to the aircraft or the passengers. The commander intimated ATC Jaipur about the stowaway on board much before landing and also advised that local police authorities should be ready for taking the person in custody.
| Stowaway update |
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Habib Hussain, who hid in a toilet on an Air India Haj charter flight from Saudi Arabia to return to the country, was remanded in six-day police custody on Sunday night. He was arrested Saturday night and booked under Passport Act. He hailed from Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh and managed to board the flight on the pretext of cleaning it. |
