DGCA suspends Indigo pilot for 3 months for ‘intimidating’ passengers

MUMBAI: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has suspended an Indigo pilot who not only refused to provide a prebooked wheelchair to a 75-yearold passenger on a Chennai-bengaluru flight on January 13 but also threatened to detain the senior citizen and her daughter at the airport.

Aviation regulator DGCA, which has suspended him for three months, said that the pilot’s behaviour was intimidating. The pilot, Captain Jayakrishnan Kadappa, had been taken off duty after the incident pending further inquiry.

The senior citizen, Vijayalakshmi Nair, had been travelling with her daughter Supriya Unni Nair, 50 on flight 6E 806.

The next morning the daughter posted a series of tweets recounting her experience, accusing the crew and captain of abusive behaviour. She said that her mother, a diabetes patient, had pre-booked a wheelchair but received no assistance after the flight landed at Bengaluru. When she was explaining to the crew that the ticket mentioned the booking of the wheel chair, the captain came out of the cockpit and accused her of annoying him and his crew.

The pilot tried to stop the ground staff from taking the senior citizen out of the aircraft and threatened to detain them at the airport.

After the incident, the DGCA issued show cause notice to the pilot. The regulator said that Kadappa, who was the Pilot-incommand (PIC), had misused his authority by intimidating the passengers.

The pilot had disregarded the fact that the senior citizen needed a wheelchair and he also insisted on an apology letter from the passengers which further delayed the matter and the passengers were detained for more than one hour after the other passengers had got off.

In its report about the investigation, the regulator stated, “After examining the reply of the PIC to the letter it was established that the PIC attitude towards the wheelchair bound senior citizen passenger was intimidating, threatening and lacked compassion...”.

Kadappa declined to comment on the matter. Nair said, “My mother and I deeply appreciate DGCA’S action.” Indigo did not comment on the matter.