Man on another Air India flight urinates on blanket of woman co-flyer

 A drunk male passenger allegedly urinated on a woman passenger's blanket on a Paris-Delhi Air India flight, officials familiar with the matter said on Thursday, adding there was no penal action after the man gave a written apology.

The airline confirmed that a passenger on Air India Flight 142 from Paris to Delhi on December 6, 2022 relieved himself on the vacant seat and blanket of a fellow passenger, when the latter was in the lavatory.

"The crew identified and isolated the offender and reported the incident to authorities. On arrival at Indira Gandhi International Airport, the passenger was taken into custody by Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel," said an Air India spokesperson.

"As the victim and the accused reached an understanding, CISF allowed the accused to leave after he tendered a written apology. In deference to the victim's wishes, Air India did not lodge a police report," the spokesperson added.

The incident came barely 10 days after the November 26 episode where a man allegedly urinated on a female co-passenger onboard a New York-Delhi Air India flight.

Aviation expert Vipul Saxena condemned the incident. "This is one of the most horrific incidents repeated in a span of two weeks by the same airline which shows how lax their ethical work culture and internal self regulation is, which is irresponsible, reckless and unbecoming of a hospitality business organisation," he said. "It is clear that in the New York- Delhi incident they tried to put under the carpet but failed , they tried again after two weeks to put under the carpet by brokering a deal / peace between victim and accused."

"Even if the victim opts not to report the matter, the CAR implemented in 2017 mandates reporting all such incidents to DGCA within 12 hours of landing, conducting detailed enquiry and taking necessary action within 10 days, which Air India didn't do, which is unpardonable," he added.