AI exec's daughter violated safety norms: Plaint

In an alleged violation of aviation safety norms, daughter of a senior Air India executive travelled in the bunk meant exclusively for flight crew members, during a flight to Newark recently.

The complaint was lodged by KVJ Rao, a union leader and former Air India cabin crew, with the secretary of civil aviation ministry, V Somasundaran.

Rao alleged that the daughter of a senior Air India pilot was first allowed to sit on the jump seat - meant for non-operating staff - and then to rest in the bunk meant only for the resting of pilots.

The alleged incident happened aboard a 14-hour long flight from Mumbai to Newark on December 13.

"For take off, rest and landing she was illegally allowed to sit in the cabin crew horizontal rest area (bunk) by the commander. Immediately after the flight took off, the First Officer of the flight was asked to relax in the vertical seat (jump seat) and denied his horizontal rest in the bunk beds. When the second set of cockpit crew went to rest she was then moved to the cabin crew rest area," Rao said in his complaint.

In his complaint, Rao also alleged that a first class passenger was forced to sit in the executive class during a flight from Frankfurt to Delhi so as to accommodate a senior bureaucrat in November.

When contacted, an Air India spokesperson refused to comment on the issue, while Somasundaran said denied having any knowledge of such a complaint.