JOIN USAI has also begun its own investigation to pin down the other persons responsible for the violation of safety and security rules. The incident occurred on May 5 when its Mumbai-Mangalore flight IC-179 took off with three passengers in addition to the 172 passenger capacity of the Airbus A-321 aircraft operating the service, an AI spokesperson said.
One of the three extra passengers was seated inside the cockpit on the “jump seat” —the third seat besides the two meant for pilot and co-pilot — in complete violation of the security guidelines. The other two were accommodated on seats meant for the cabin crew.
These additional passengers were issued manual boarding passes as the computerised ones cannot be generated after a flight is completely booked.
The incident came to light when the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) was carrying out a probe into an incident involving the same flight at Mumbai airport in which the aircraft was towed back even before the aircraft doors were closed, damaging the aerobridge attached to it.
The spokesman said the commander of the flight, the co-pilot, a ground engineer, a driver of the tow tractor and five commercial staff were de-rostered. The DGCA, which submitted its report on June 26, said during its investigation some AI staffers had “deliberately tampered” with the “load and trim sheet” of the flight.
The trim sheet is a record of a flight detailing the total number of passengers, the weights of cargo and baggage, the number of crew members it is carrying and information like aircraft balance, its centre of gravity and other technical inputs.
“We will take all measures recommended by the DGCA and there is no question of covering up to shield anyone,” the spokesperson said maintaining that though security and safety norms were flouted, there was “no threat to the lives of the passengers”. Six names have been identified by the DGCA and given to AI recommending action, official sources here said.