Another 'peeing' incident on Delhi-bound flight, 'drunk' Indian student held

In another incident of unruly behaviour on air, a passenger was taken into custody on Sunday for allegedly urinating on a fellow passenger on a New York-New Delhi American Airlines flight in a "drunken" state. The incident happened on an American Airlines flight AA292, which took off from New York on Friday and landed at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport in New Delhi on Saturday, after a journey of nearly 14 hours.

Delhi airport DCP Devesh Kumar Mahla said a complaint of peeing on co-passenger has been received from American Airlines against one person, who is a student in the US. The accused is a resident of Defence colony in Delhi.

"We are taking necessary legal action," PTI reported quoting him.

"The accused was in a state of inebriation and urinated while he was asleep. It somehow leaked and fell on a fellow passenger who complained to the crew," a source at the airport told PTI.

The victim, a male passenger, however was not keen on reporting the matter as the accused issued an apology and cited threats to his reputation and career. The airline, on its part, reported the matter to the Air Traffic Control (ATC) at the IGI airport, PTI said.

The pilot reported the matter to the authorities who further alerted the CISF personnel. The accused was then handed over to the Delhi Police, who recorded statements of the concerned people in the matter.

The airline, in a statement, said it was handled "professionally" and that the flight landed safely without any disruptions. "We're grateful to our crew members who are consistently dedicated to the safety and care of our customers and handle the circumstances with the utmost professionalism," it said.

This is the third such incident in the last few months where a flyer relieved himself on a fellow passenger in an inebriated state. On 26 November, an almost similar incident took place on a New York-Delhi Air India flight, in which a man, Shankar Mishra, had allegedly urinated in a drunken state on an elderly woman.

That incident came to light almost a month later through a media report, after which an FIR was lodged and Mishra arrested. He was released on bail after spending nearly a month in jail. The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) imposed a fine of ₹30 lakh on Air India for not reporting the matter within 12 hours of the incident in accordance with the norm. While the Delhi Police is investigating the matter, Mishra has been banned from flying for four months.

Barely a week after the 26 November incident, another episode of a "drunk" male passenger allegedly urinating on the blanket of a female passenger on 6 December came to light. The incident surfaced on the Paris-Delhi sector. However, no penal action was pressed after the passenger gave a written apology.

Minister of state for civil aviation VK Singh in a written response to a question in the Rajya Sabha had said last month that in the past year, a total of 63 'disruptive' passengers were placed on the 'No-Fly' list by the aviation watchdog but of them, only two incidents of 'urinating' had come to the DGCA's notice.