IndiGo bars specially-abled child from boarding flight at Ranchi airport for 'panicking'; DGCA begins probe

IndiGo barred a specially-abled child from boarding a flight at the Ranchi airport as he was in “a state of panic”, following which the aviation regulator DGCA has started a probe and asked the airline to submit a report, officials said on Sunday.

As the boy was prohibited from boarding the airline’s Ranchi-Hyderabad flight on Saturday, his parents also decided to not take the flight, they noted.

DGCA chief Arun Kumar told PTI that the regulator has sought a report from IndiGo on this matter.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is probing this incident and it will take appropriate action, he said.

When asked about the incident, IndiGo said, “In view of the safety of passengers, a specially-abled child could not board the flight with his family on 7 May, as he was in a state of panic.” The ground staff waited for him to calm down till the last minute but to no avail, it said.

The airline made the family comfortable by providing them a hotel stay and they flew the next morning to their destination, it said.

“We regret the inconvenience caused to the passengers. IndiGo prides itself on being an inclusive organisation, be it for employees or its customers; and over 75,000 specially-abled passengers fly with IndiGo every month,” it said.

The incident came to light after a person, identified as  Manisha Gupta, posted about it on Facebook that led to an an uproar on social media. Gupta had witnessed the incident.

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With input from PTI

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