DGCA files plaint against 34 pilots for ‘lewd remarks’

The Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday lodged a police complaint against 34 pilots for making “obscene marks against its senior official” on social networking sites. The pilots called it “harassment” by the DGCA and are likely to approach the Prime Minister Office in a day or two.

It all started when the DGCA invited opinions from pilots about their decision of extending the notice period of captains and pilots from six months to a year, citing that mass resignations were indirectly affecting the passengers. But it was not supported by the pilots, who wrote to the joint Director General, stating the same.

But here is where they made a slip and got the designation wrong. The officer then replied to Jet Airways, asking them to check whether their pilots were suffering from some “metal illness”.

The pilots were taken to the police station on Tuesday after reaching the DGCA office in Delhi. Ten of the pilots were from Jet Airways, while the remaining were from SpiceJet, Indigo and GoAir.

According to sources, the DGCA had called the pilots for a discussion on the notice period for pilots and captains. But when they reached the venue on Tuesday, they were picked up by the Lodhi Road police station. According to Chinmoy Biswas, additional commissioner of Delhi police, the complaint was received in the morning and around 14 pilots were picked up at around 11am and released around 1pm.

Confirming that a few of its crew were called to record their statements, Jet Airways said that it will take appropriate measures where necessary, as per the company policy and in compliance with local law, while an Indigo spokesperson said they were looking into the charges.

However, the SpiceJet spokesperson said, “No SpiceJet pilot has written any derogatory or obscene message against any DGCA official, or made any comments on the draft DGCA CAR. One of our pilots had just forwarded some WhatsApp messages to a few friends and colleagues.”