Child boarding incident: DGCA finds IndiGo employees prima facie violated rules, points showcause

By PTI

NEW DELHI: Aviation regulator DGCA Monday stated it has issued a showcause discover to IndiGo after a fact-finding committee discovered the airline employees prima facie violated rules in denying boarding to a specially-abled baby on the Ranchi airport on May 7.

The airline had on May 9 stated the boy was denied boarding as he was “visibly in panic”.

As the boy was prohibited from boarding the Ranchi-Hyderabad flight, his mother and father — who had been accompanying him — additionally determined to not enter the airplane.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation had constituted a fact-finding committee to probe the matter. “The committee has submitted its report,” the DGCA stated in an announcement on Monday.

The proceedings of the committee had been partly held within the open and partly in-camera as per the request of the affected household, it stated.

“The findings of the committee prima facie indicate inappropriate handling of passengers by the Indigo staff thereby resulting in certain non-conformances with the applicable regulations,” it talked about.

In view of this, it has been determined to concern a showcause discover to the airline by means of its authorised consultant to clarify as to why appropriate enforcement motion shouldn’t be taken towards them for the non-conformances, it stated.

“To meet the ends of justice, the airline has been provided an opportunity for personal hearing as well as for making written submissions in next ten days from today i.e. till May 26, 2022. After hearing their submissions, appropriate action as per law would be taken,” it added.