IndiGo pilots under fire for taking selfies in cockpit

At least six IndiGo Airlines pilots are under fire for taking selfies with family and colleagues inside cockpits

At least six IndiGo Airlines pilots are under fire for taking selfies with family and colleagues inside cockpits. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) asked the airline management to explain why it permitted the pilots to take photographs in the restricted zone.

At least six IndiGo Airlines pilots are under fire for taking selfies with family and colleagues inside cockpits.

Although the pictures posted on the Facebook profiles of the respective cockpit crew showed they were taken when the aircraft were on ground, officials from the DGCA air safety department said the issue raised concerns over ‘poor safety decorum’. “According to the existing rules, taking selfies with kin and friends inside the cockpit is a violation only when an aircraft is airborne. But it is an unhealthy trend. We are mulling a blanket ban on cockpit entry to anybody other than authorised crew,” said a senior DGCA official.

According to the complaint, a first officer put a picture with his wife in the pilots’ seat, while another complaint alleged that a pilot took a selfie with his parents occupying the pilots’ seats. The others were selfies taken by different pilots with colleagues from the airline. An IndiGo Airlines spokesperson confirmed a first officer in the airline was facing the regulator’s probe. “We have learned that our first officer has been probed against a case of cockpit access violation by the regulator. It was alleged against the first officer that his wife’s picture was taken in 2014 inside the cockpit while the plane was on ground,” said the spokesperson.

“As per the internal report, we would like to clarify that at no time our first officer had violated any prescribed guideline. This picture was taken inside the cockpit, but in a plane that was parked. As per the guidelines prescribed by the regulator, photography or entry into the cockpit is prohibited during the flight time and not when the plane is parked,” the spokesperson said.