New Delhi: Air India on Thursday said it has imposed a four-month flying ban on Shankar Mishra, who is accused of urinating on a woman co-passenger onboard a flight in November last year.
An airline official said the ban is with immediate effect and is in addition to the 30-day ban it had imposed on the individual earlier.
The incident of Mishra, who was in an inebriated condition allegedly urinated on the woman co-passenger onboard the Air India flight from New York to Delhi on November 26, 2022.
“The independent three-member Internal Committee under the Chairmanship of the former District Judge has concluded that Shankar Mishra is covered under the definition of ‘unruly passenger’ and is banned from flying for a period of 4 months as per the relevant provisions of the Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR),” an Air India spokesperson said in a statement.
The passenger has already been put on the airline’s ‘no fly list’.
Tata group-owned Air India has shared a copy of the committee’s report with the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and will also be intimating other airlines operating in the country, the spokesperson said.
Other airlines can take their own decision on whether any ban should be imposed on the individual.
Currently, Mishra is in jail and the case is before a Delhi court.
On January 4, Air India said it has imposed a 30-day travel ban on Mishra but did not disclose the time period of the ban.
A day later on January 5, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued notices to the officials and crew of the New York-Delhi flight, asking why action should not be taken against them for “dereliction” of duty while handling the November 26 ‘urination’ incident.
The woman, who had accused Mishra of urinating on her on the flight, on January 13 rejected the claims made by him that she seems to have urinated on herself, saying these are “completely false and concocted and by their very nature are disparaging and derogatory”.
—PTI

Press Trust of India