New Delhi: Pilot in dock for kissing air hostess

TNN

New Delhi, 19 December 2010: Amorous aviators beware. Misbehaving with the pretty young air hostesses, especially on duty, could mean getting banished from cockpits for a long period, apart from other legal proceedings.

 

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) this week rejected the plea of a pilot, who allegedly kissed an air hostess forcibly inside the cockpit three months ago, to have his licence suspension revoked. The aviation regulator, Bharat Bhushan, is learnt to have taken a very serious view of the incident and ruled that a mere apology from the grounded pilot is not enough to have him back in cockpit again.

 

Details of the alleged misconduct revealed following an inquiry by the airline have spelt more trouble for the grounded pilot with the regulator. The alleged incident took place on September 3 aboard SpiceJet’s flight SG 501/871, which was operating on the Delhi-Bangalore-Hyderabad-Cochin sector.

 

"The air hostess went inside the cockpit and the pilot suddenly kissed her there. The girl was too stunned to react at which the pilot kissed her again. Then, she left the cockpit after that and the pilot may have followed her right to the start of the passenger cabin to possibly apologize.

 

"This is a very serious allegation of misconduct that does not merit any leniency for the pilot by allowing him to fly again," said sources. When reached for comment with details of this incident and the inquiry, SpiceJet did not offer any.

 

In fact, the DGCA is getting increasingly concerned at rising incidence of on board unruly behaviour by passengers even as cases of tension between the crew are getting increasingly common now and this may affect flight safety.