Urination row: Air India closes internal probe, to assist pilot in appeal against license suspension

Nearly two months after the urination incident on its New York-New Delhi flight, Air India on Tuesday said it has closed the internal probe into the case and will assist the flight's pilot-in-command with an appeal against the suspension of his license by DGCA as the airline deems the action as "excessive".

Last week, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) suspended the license of the pilot for three months, imposed a penalty of Rs 30 lakh on Air India and Rs 3 lakh on the director of the airline's in-flight services related to the urination incident that happened on November 26, 2022.

Tata group-owned Air India on Tuesday said it has closed the internal investigation into the actions of its crew operating and administrative staff supporting the AI 102 (New York-New Delhi) on November 26, 2022.

In a statement, the airline said it accepts that, notwithstanding the mitigating circumstances, based on the letter of the CAR (Civil Aviation Requirement) it did not correctly classify the incident and therefore did not report it as required.

"The crew and ground staff have been issued warning letters to henceforth adhere strictly to CAR definition of 'unruly' when reporting incidents onboard so that later investigation can assess the facts. The cabin crew and ground staff have been counselled and have since returned to duty," it said.

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