Manhandling of IndiGo passenger: DGCA to take views of all affected parties

A video clip of the airline's staff pinning down a passenger to the ground went viral recently

Aviation regulator DGCA will gather point of views of all affected parties during the probe into the recent incident of IndiGo staff assaulting a passenger at the airport in the national capital, a senior government official said.

The incident, that happened on October 15, was condemned by the civil aviation ministry, which has sought a detailed probe by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

On November 7, a video clip of the incident went viral following which the ministry swung into action. The airline has already apologised.

While IndiGo has already submitted its report about the incident, the ministry would take a final decision on further action only after taking into consideration the report from the DGCA.

A senior ministry official said the DGCA would gather the point of views of all affected parties from both sides.

Before fixing the responsibility, the regulator would look at various aspects, including whether the incident was triggered because the passenger was unnecessarily abusive or that the response was excessive, the official noted.

According to the video clip, IndiGo staff is seen assaulting a passenger, Rajeev Katyal, at the Delhi airport and the incident happened on the tarmac - a security area that falls under airside.
 

In the video, Katyal is first seen being stopped from entering a coach, and then being pulled back by a ground staff. Another airline employee is seen restraining Katyal.

The passenger is seen fighting back and falling on the ground in the melee.
 

IndiGo had told the ministry that action was taken against the staff for the "regrettable incident".

Providing a chronology of events along with some screenshots, IndiGo President and Whole Time Director Aditya Ghosh in a letter to the ministry had said the employees involved were immediately suspended, adding, "we recognised that whatever may have been the provocation, my colleagues should have exercised restraint".

About Juby Thomas, who is seen in the video entering into a scuffle with the passenger, the letter said there was miscommunication between the two, possibly due to a noisy ramp area.

Out of three employees involved, IndiGo had said it terminated the services of Montu Kalra while warning letters were issued to Thomas and Sahiv Sharma.

Kalra, who is claiming to be the whistleblower, is the one who is shouting in the video and instructing the two other junior colleagues to prevent Katyal from boarding the bus, and "instigated the incident", the airline had said.