Passengers barged into cockpit and intimidated crew, woman pilot complains
A tense drama unfolded at the international airport here on Friday after the captain of an Indian carrier transmitted a ‘hijack alert’ to the Air Traffic Control (ATC) when a set of “irate” passengers allegedly barged into the cockpit and intimidated the crew shortly after the flight landed here from Abu Dhabi at 6.30 a.m.
The passengers, 165 of them, boarded the flight at 8.30 p.m. Abu Dhabi local time. The flight took off only at 3.30 a.m. owing to some unexplained delay.
It reached over Kochi around 6 a.m. but could not land owing to inclement weather. The pilot diverted the aircraft to Thiruvananthapuram and it touched down here at 6.30 a.m.
A set of passengers apparently became furious when somebody spread word that the flight had ended, and they would have to reach Kochi on their own.
The passengers had to sit strapped to their seats for almost six hours at a stretch without reaching their destination, and their patience seemed to have run out.
A fracas broke out between the passengers and crew members when the commander, a woman pilot, with 22 years of international flying experience, opened the cockpit’s cabin door to disembark from the aircraft.
In her complaint to the police, she alleged that a protester said his infant was on board and he would “kill her” if “anything happened” to the child. She said she informed the men that their actions were illegal and constituted a characteristic “hijack situation.” The men refused to exit the cockpit and pressed on with their threats, forcing her to punch the hijack alert transmission code. She also wrote a distress message on a piece of paper and threw it out of the cockpit window.
Keywords: passenger ruckus, plane diversion, Abu Dhabi-Kochi Air India flight, Thiruvananthapuram airport
its true that people cant do the same thing in UAE... but that doesnt
mean that this system is better.. it is king's rule here and india has
democratic system ... its duty of the airliner to have dealt properly
with this situation and explained its passengers...to give no reason for
an act will cause pain and build to outrage ....
This incident provides enough ground for the DGCA to conduct a through enquiry and put in place required regualtions and guidlines to prevent recurrence of such instances. Regualtions like how delays should be handled, information be provided to passengers, ensure their safety and comfort, compensation payable etc. But the most important of all should be the use of the hijak button. Was it appropriate on the part of the pilot to use the button the way she did? Guidlines needs to be revisited to ensure that this faciity that is to be used quite judiciously is not misused. Another issue that DGCA needs to look into is the way flight schedules are managed by Air India. Are they suffciently staffed, have the required number of quality crafts to handle the schedule, adequate flying time provided while preparing schedules etc. Further, instances of large cancellation of schedules should to be looked into so passenger's interest are taken care of.
Fromm all accounts it appears that due to lack of effective communication atmosphere got heated up culminating in an irate passenger banging the door and with more joining in.Passengers demand service and delay no doubt brought them down from senses six to four level.If Air India officials recd them after coming to know before-hand that flight got diverted and revealed arrangement to take them comfortably to Kochi ,senses would have climbed back from four,then five and then six.This is natural of tired passengers who faced hijack situation by remaining in aircraft that long at ground.Woman pilot pressing the hijack button is a sort of desperation which can set a bad precedent.Air India officials at TVM airport should have handled the situation before passengers started disembarking and this action would have been an apology for inconvenience.If Maharajah can salute as in AirIndia's logo why not officials sitting in airport.
It is indeed surprising that many people had commented on the so called rude behaviour of passenger. When a flight gets diverted, passengers should be informed and alternative arrangements should be made. Food and water are to be essentially supplied. If it takes more time, passenger are to be moved to a transit lounge. Instead of doing all theses, switching off the air-conditioner and leaving the aircraft without any word is shear irresponsibility.
I could see several saying " will they do this if they were in gulf " ofcourse not ,both pilot and
people are answerable and hardly you see people doing this,it understandable for them to
keep quiet isn middleeast becuase it is a foreign country. Why should indian be quiet in India
and tolerate this service, if there is a 6 hr wait before they start and they get dropped
elsewhere they should have informed this ahead and also see how they can divert people to
other airline,its a service industry shouldnt they be concerned of the people they are flying,
its a rukes if one person does it , its inconvineance if its done to all.
What ever may the provocation there can be no justification unauthorized people entering the sanitized aircraft cockpit. I fully agree with Cecil saying "Indians who think that money is the way to
achieve anything in life." If any passenger behaves this way in western airspace the full force of the security apparatus would have come in to play against the unruly travelers.
I have traveled with infants and got very upset when someone opened the overhead bin before the flight stopped on runway and luggage fell on my kid's head. You need to be the dad of a 6 month old to understand the feelings.
The plane had landed in Tvm and the female pilot tried to exit while giving conflicting information to the passengers. The passengers were wrong that they tried to let the pilot exit the aircraft. They did demand that the flight be flown to Kochi as well.
There was no "hijack" situation here. The Air India personnel deals with Malayalis from middle east in the worst possible way. I don't see Air India personnel deal with Gujaratis the same way on the flights from Ahmedabad. The Air India employees need to get the chip off their shoulder, provider timely communication and respect their customers.
Thanks to chief minister Oomen Chandy for getting involved in this and refuting the claim of the pilot on hijack.
It was certainly quite unbecoming and questionable behaviour on the part of the passengers who barged into the cockpit to threaten the pilot, that too a woman. Adverse weather or various other factors often lead to situations wherein pilots consider it prudent to resort to measures like 'delayed take-ff', 'skipping the destination aiport' etc. This aspect is well known to all regular passengers. What the crew should do on such occasions is keeping the passengers informed about the possible delay due to circumstances beyond control. This practice has not been given its due importance by many airlines and the passengers are taken for granted. That is the root cause for annoyance. Let the crew members be taught to do the right things at the right time. Even a lapse in this regard would not have justified the rude manner in which some Kochi-bound passengers behaved.
Indians think they can get away with anything. I am an Indian national
living in London and if people so much as raise their voice with drivers
of buses, tubes or any other personnel they can face serious charges.
There seems to be no sense of courtesy amongst Indians (no surprises
that this happened in Kerala). I bet the flight was filled with rich
Indians who think that money is the way to
achieve anything in life. We all agree to terms and conditions when we
embark on a flight. And it's just as any other form of transportation to
have delays and unforeseen circumstances. Why can't Indians stop acting
spoilt and start developing some decency?? I see this happen far too
much!!
James, i am sure that you will not comment in this way if this flight
was coming from a country other than that of Middle east. Some people
used to refer to the situations in other specific countries, whenever
you speak them about India. i don't know why. As i knew from my
friends Air India has the habit of cancelling flights, without prior
information, without adequate compensatory system, and it is very well
known that their attitude is very unprofessional. Would you (James)
ask protesting students against the revoking of a PSC list, whether
they do that in a Middle East country. Would you ask the protesting
students against the implementation of the year out in Calicut
University, that whether they do it in University of California. You
have your rights and duties in your country as a citizen and in
another countries also as per their own rules and regulation. As you
got from above comments, this very unprofessional treatment is not
there in many foriegn countries including UAE
Air India is worst service in the world and its pilots are the most selfish empoyees in the country. They dont know how to tackle a sitation and give calm to the passengers. Passengers have the right to reach their destinaton without any fear and anxiety.
This is not a question whether one travels from UAE or USA and should
focus on the unlawful protest made in aircraft. It is about the nature
of protest. It is about the nature of behavior in aircraft. One thing
for sure, this will not happen in any countries where there are strict
rules and enforcement. There will indeed be frustration for passengers
irrespective of the working grade. Keeping the captain captive does
not solve the problem. Let us wait for the inquiry report. PART IVA –
51A of Indian Constitution says- Fundamental Duties. - It shall be the
duty of every citizens of India -(i) to safeguard public property and
to abjure violence. Yes, Air India operation is the worst and I stood
with emotions. However the pilot who is only paid for her working
hours does not need to follow passenger’s demands. Without any
prejudice, we can wait for the inquiry, though process itself is a
punishment.
I fly a lot. I used to fly Air India and Indian Airlines because I am an Indian. After having series of bad experiences with them, I never fly them any more. They are a shame to our nation.
I think some people who commented on the "pussy cat" like attitude of
Indians in the UAE is completely out of context.
Here is a situation of an airline which continuously displays
unprofessional way of handling passengers, safety etc. History is
witness to it. This whole drama as it unfolded was a result of panic
by the pilot and immaturity. The pilot has to be much more responsible
to face such situations and take the right steps.
well said james. These people take it for granted. They personally have amounted to lots of delays in their life, but remain stubborn in situations like this. All being educated must be knowing the reasons and causes behind it. If something would have happened while on air, then it'd have lead to an accident. Thank God they had the patience till safe landing.
Such scenes are not possible in Dubai Saudi etc. First of all, they would never let the passengers remain idly seated for 6 hours inside the aircraft. There were instances in middle east when the pilot apologized within one hour of boarding that a delay is expected and all had to get down and proceed to the lounge, where refreshments await them. Our airlines on the other hand perhaps fear the anger of passengers and aggravate the situation by not solving the issue in an honest way though they know in advance of a delay. In this particular situation, it was not a technical fault but the bad weather which the passengers also knew but if they had been sent back to lounge instead of straining them to sit tight for 6 hours, why would they show any anger and this nasty situation might not have been created.
sorry Mr James... You have to travel in this route, then only you know the situation especially when you are travelling with infant. you can check on the other flight status at the same time landing on kochi.why this carrier only have this problem. last month they cancelled some 100+ schedules without proper notifying(whether this will be acceptable in any carrier).from all this you may know how they are treating the people from kerala. may be ur thinking then y people travelling on this carrier, its answer is all the people cannot afford emirates or etihad.
Mr James,
Please answer the below questions first before givng these fancy comments...
1. Will it happen if it was in UAE, the airlines land at an airport around 6 hours (by road) away from the destination and irresponsibly ask the passengers to find their own way to reach their destination?
2. If it was in a foreign country will the pilot dare to behave so irresponsibly and behave in a childish way to abuse a sensitive security system (the hijack code) and make fool the security personnel like this?
Very Very Pity... The National Carrier & its supporters ...
Airlines is responsible for the delay and also failure to brief passengers, but passengers have violated safety rules and punishable as well.
Airlines, cannot press hijack button for their own reasons and should be penalized!
Rights smothered in one country should be the reason why it should not be
exercised where it is possible James. Having traveled this sector - Middle east &
Kerala - on several occasions, I have no sympathies for some of our airlines that
behave to Indian passengers as if they are some outcast. I may also ask, where else
in the world is this delays, cancellations and keeping passengers strapped in an
airplane for hours a norm? Once I was locked up in a flight with my children and at
least 140 other passengers for four hours at Calicut without even the air conditioner
inside the airplane running and no water or food, since a pilot relinquished
command of the carrier since his work time was over. Ever heard of that before?
Many people who travel these sectors have to put up with the worst in the middle
east from their employers. Cant they respond to the carrier when they are ill-treated
at home as well?
Even a pussy cat willl scratch you if you try to harm its kittens. Strap yourself in your chair for twelve hours at a stretch and then show your good sense and patience. Nobody except maybe labourers live as pussy cats in UAE. The UAE govt is trying to change that also. Get your facts up to date. Emaratis treat NRI's with affection and respect most of the time. It's the senior and middle management in most companies who come in between the ground level employees and the emarati sponsor and take as much advantage as they can of the helplessness of the expatriates. And to note the point most of these are from the same countries as that of the employees. In UAE, if the flights are diverted to other airports, the passengers are provided with AC buses to their original destination. That is my 15 yrs experience in the UAE.
And it is not as if there is no Chamchagiri, nepotism and favouritism in Indian companies. People living in glass houses should not throw stones at others.
Passenger have to be informed at all times of the status of the flight and also treated with respect. At the same time entering the cockpit irrespective of the circumstances would trigger a hijack alert and the pilot was only justified in sounding the alarm.
I completely disagree with James' reasoning. Whether they live cowardly lives in the middle
east or not, are they not entitled to decent service when they are flying?
You have to remember that many of these passengers who are immigrant labourers would
probably be returning home after a long stretch (3-4yrs) of toiling in the gulf. I have travelled
several times on Air India, the flights, especially those coming from the gulf have very rude
and borderline hostile air stewards and stewardesses. They treat these passengers in a very
derogatory manner, just because they are labourers. If the passengers version of the
incident is true, of not having been served food/water, turned off air conditioning, even I
would have got agitated.
There is a reason why Air India is in its current State of Affairs. Why do we need to bail them
out again and again, god only knows!
James has a good point; Indians will flout the laws, protest, create chaos in India,
with total disregard of the law or try to understand the situation. We Indians will not
wait a moment to create inconvenience to others, break or burn public property or
mob mentality destruction. However when in Singapore, Malaysia, Saudi, USA or
anywhere outside of India, they will not even whisper their inconvenience ... Why?
because there are consequences that they would have to face and the citizens of the
foreign countries do not indulge in protests, create chaos and they would not
tolerate outsiders doing it. Lesson for us ... We Indians should not tolerate unruly
behavior and the law should give instant punishment and media publish pictures of
people indulging in these activities and shame them
The airport episode is the cumulative result of the pent-up feelings of the passengers who had gone through the agonies of a delayed departure and missed destination and tactless handling by the commander of the aircraft. The pilot should not have been the target of the irate passengers and the situation should not have warranted the impulsive pressing of the hijack button. AI's reputation as a bad airline may be behind all the fuss.
My comment is on Mr. S. James' hateful comment. Dear sir - please do understand
the emotional state of the passengers. It has been building up for many days... after
all, when have you heard anything good about Air India's service? Now - I do not
understand why are you talking about protesting in the UAE? Why are you surprised
people behave in a country run by Shaikhs which does NOT allow any kind of
protests? Let me ask you - would you do it? 10 years of living here, I have never felt
anything about it. Instead of sitting in front of the computer and sending hateful
comments, have a heart and empathize with these people who are severely
inconvenienced!!!
And the Hijack code was totally uncalled for. She's overreacting -of course, she didn't
deserve it but as I said, the passengers are furious and as the captain of the plane,
she should have know how to calm them. This is the hallmark of a good captain.. i've
seen many International flights how the Captain take charge of a situation!
Anger of the stranded and ill-treated passengers is understood and is appropriate. AI staff should be grounded for the senseless handling and the Air port authorities be suspended for not providing amenities to the stranded passengers.
The entire episode is symptomatic of lack of timely communication from the arilines to the passengers. If only the air control could have briefed the airlines the next course of action the issue would not have snowballed into an unsavoury incident. Passengers too seem to have no patience to withstand any unexpected eventuality arising out of circumstances beyond control and tend to take the law into their own nands. It is hoped lessons would be learnt for the future.
It is very common for Indian Airline to have unusual delays for flights to take off and land ending in demonstrations, protests and sit-ins in Kerala. I presume the flight was delayed because of the bad weather at Kochi. Since the airline did not explain reason for the delay, the passengers are eligible for compensation. If any flight is delayed more than 4 hours for reasons other than bad weather at the airport or at the destination, the passengers are eligible for compensation. If not a weather problem, the airline usually arrange accomodation with other airlines. The airlines have the obligation to take the passengers to their destination, once the bad weather is over. The airline should at least take the passengers by bus to their destination. This airline has no mutual arrangemnets with other airlines, very few flights of their own, overtime problems for the crew, lack of spare planes and spare parts and mismanagement. No wonder Keralites are starting their own airline.
The crew should have taken the passengers into confidence and given proper explanation for delay and info reg further travel to Kochi. Just because these people might be ill-treated on foreign soil our own authorities should not mete out the same treatment to these poor people who seek foreign employment for lack of alternatives.
The passengers should be immediately arrested without bail. What if the plane had crashed?
I agree with Mr. S James (above), sad that they only do this when in
India, but when abroad, they act like a good citizen.
The Pilot being a woman should not have been threatened and treated
this way, and they should realize she did not do it for fun.
..and by the way, I guess this is a case of "hijack", they threatened
to kill her, they forced their way into cockpit and refused to exit.
They demands if any are irrelevant to a case of hijack. I believe they
should be punished severely but at the same time the airline be
punished for harassing the passengers.
Guys I understood most of the passangers coming from north america etc, via UAE. No one sits for hours in aircraft without airconditioning, proper sanitation, food, drinks etc that to most of them travelling with little kids. Air India dicerted plane to Trivendrum, and said crew said their shift is over. and again they said flight got mechanical problems they need to travel by bus to Kochi, which passengers agreed that to also not organised. Crew seems very rude, as we know why no one wants to travel by Air India. James can u imagine sitting in a plane with these conditions more than 20 Min. These things will happen in UAE or other countries as well but they looks after passengers, they don't leave them to suffer. And why would any one lives in UAE without Questioning of they face similar situation, don't undermine your self as Indian(if you are) and other fellow Indians.
Air India has the worst "on-time record" and record for frequent cancellation of flights. This incident might have happened because of lack of consumer confidence in Air-India. The government needs to level the playing fields for all the airlines. Air India is a pampered child and its employees have the secured jobs.
Dear Mr.James, Yea we may be pussy cats overseas, please do understand
that if a flight is delayed in UAE every possible privilege is given
to the passengers. This flight as such was delayed for 3 plus hours
and them re-routed with the promise that it would be delayed only by
one more hour. Can you imagine sitting in a flight for more that 3
hours without ac? And for the record nobody entered the cockpit, true they
banged on the doors as they were frustrated. If you as an Indian
National don't get your rights in India, where else do you expect? And
we should be taught a lesson for the reason that we used the national
airline and was asked to continue the reminder of the journey at our
own expense and that two after a total delay of 5 hours? Don't we owe
an apology? Are we not humans? Put yourself in the situation with a
six months old baby in your lap with no food,water and ac in a flight
with 160odd people around you.
How can an IA flight from Abu Dhabi reach kochi in just 2 hours and 30 minutes? It takes four hours to fly from Abu Dhabi to Kochi.
"The passengers, 165 of them, boarded the flight at 8.30 p.m. Abu Dhabi local time. The flight took off only at 3.30 a.m. owing to some unexplained delay. It reached over Kochi around 6 a.m. but could not land owing to inclement weather. The pilot diverted the aircraft to Thiruvananthapuram and it touched down here at 6.30 a.m. "
What irritates passengers the most is to be given no explanation at all for the delays in which passengers are expected to helplessly sit through it. This is a natural human feeling. Airlines understand this very well ... and yet choose to be callous and not explain to the passengers the reasons for the delays.
From the report it seems that the passengers had been stuck in the plane for 7 hours even before it took off. The reasonable rules for tarmac delays should have been applied. In the US new laws have been made that require planes be returned to gates and passengers be de-boarded with a 3 hour sitting on the tarmac. Its only reasonable and humane. Airlines are trying to make a profit by treating people cattle. It works well in lawless nations as ours and people end up taking law into their hands. It’s a vicious circle, now elevated to the skies. Glad pilot pushed that button she should not have. At least its news now.
The TV media covered the show for people to while away time. Keralite
passengers too must impede their attitude for making a big deal out of
everything as they are supposed to know the real constraint of a Pilot
who is also a victim like them. The same passengers would not have
dared to murmur if an Air India Express flight itself is diverted to a
different airport in the Gulf region. I wish that the Kerala Police
and DGCA must arrive at a consensus to pardon both passengers for
their uproar and the Pilot for sending a wrong alert to the air
traffic control. Instead let them concentrate on remedial measures for
forestalling similar unpleasant incidents in future.
Just to add on to the comment from Mr S James. You will understand this
only when you or your family members are suffered. In any other place,
if the same situation happens, the airlines provide food, water and
shelter if needed. They use the same or different flight to take the
passengers to the destination. But here, air India was planning to take
them to Cochin by road. Isn't that sound funny? They are compelled to
be pussy cats and never forget the fact that a huge part of Indian
Economy is formed from their hard work. Don't show your frustration or jealousy on these people. More than 90% of them are not rich and that
could be one reason they try to get the cheapest air India tickets but
that does not mean that they have to surrender their 'swaabhiman'.
These guys are abroad as they don't get good opportunity home. Even if
we don't give respect to them, let us not throw stones at them.
Disagreeing with S jame's view,let me tell why on eart we find fault with the poeple who might have just protested for having been amidst of untold misery?I feel the flight crew might not have given clear information to the pople about what was happening and out of confusion the ,the passengers supposed to have gone for a ntural response by just raising voice but not I think the way it was exaggerated as an effort to enter into the cockpit.
With air ,this kind of things happen quite often.What makes passengers irate is the lack of lear information and they willl be stranded nowhere with a plethora of discomforts.Couldn't have this situation been avoided?
On the other hand ,though I don't believe , but if there was any effort to enter into the cockpit,staff shoud have noticed it and help them get arrested later on.
S. JAMES:
WELL SAID!!
Though it is unfortunate if indeed the passengers were not provided with basic amenities like food and water, these same passengers will not dare to even whimper a protest if this had happened in the middle east.
Right information at the right time is a must in many occasion.I should say, Air ways and Railways are very bad in this respect.It is passenger's right to know why the air craft is diverted, why it is delayed to take off etc. passengers have many things to take care in such situations. Same is the case with Railways too.Think about the situation of passengers travelling with old people, patients, small kids, candidates appearing for some interview etc etc.Is it not the primary responsibility to inform these unexpected/ expected matters to the passengers?Are they not eligible for food or some refreshments or accomodation in such emergency?In modern world, it is not just customer satisfaction but customer delight.Definitely, parties concerned should rise up to the situation
We Indins go places on earth for more money. During the process, we keep quite and follow every security policy and procedure in other airlines and airports. When come to India, we act as tigers and lose patience and do all kinds of non-sense. What do we learn outside apart from huge earnings?.
The pilot knew that he has the ultimate weapon in his command - the hijack message- even if it is irrate passengers including women and children trapped inside an aeroplane. The pilot should be dismissed and jailed for giving a false alarm.
Surprised that such a low level comment like that of S James would find space in the Hindu website. We have seen real paper tigers. Filing compensation in India is a waste of time - very small compensation and very long time- only jobless pussycats can do that. If a flight is diverted, there will be proper arrangement
very shame on the part of Air India, this is the treatment we used to get from them . This type of treatment is not new for Air India. When ever we used to travel through Air india, we have to behave like as if we have entered into a Government Office. We have to so submissive else we will be treated roughly. Ask the Experienced travellers.
ha ha , hilarious, I will bet 1000 pounds that passengers stormed into cockpit and poor pilot would have been threatened. I have seen such things happening in Air bus, KSRTC, Traind, Cinema Halls etc in kerala. Everyone in kerala would have come across such situation.
For pilot obviously mistook the hijack button for the panic button. If this is the level of "level-headedness" of our pilots in an 'emergency' ON THE GROUND, God help air passengers in the sky. Contrast this with the steely nerves and skill of a pilot who landed a stricken plane safely on the frozen Hudson River in New York a few years ago.
Will these people do the same in UAE, Many flights to Dubai are directed
to other airports due to bad weather and will return only after 3 or 5
hours. Instead of filing claims and compensation, why they try to protest against pilot. These people live as pussy cats in UAE. They will not protest against passport holding. They will not protest against employers who force them to work for extra hours. This time these pussy cats pretending as tigers should be taught a lesson which reminds them that they are paper tigers.
It appears as if the passengers were not allowed to alight much like as
that happened, some time ago, at Nawabshah airport in Pakisthan. But
this was an Indian aircraft on Indian soil. It is natural for passengers
to be agitated. Wonder if it was justified to squawk "7500" (hijack-
code) even if the aircraft was on ground!
Please Email the Editor