Ranchi airport incident: DGCA finds IndiGO staff 'inappropriately handled' case, issues airline show-cause notice

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday said that the IndiGo staff ‘inappropriately handled’ a case where a specially abled child was denied boarding at Ranchi airport and issued the airline a show-cause notice.

The aviation regulator had earlier constituted a three-member team to investigate the incident which took place on 7 May.

DGCA inquiry into Ranchi airport incident where a specially-abled child was denied boarding by IndiGo staff, prima facie finds inappropriate handling of passengers by the IndiGo staff thereby resulting in certain non-conformances with the applicable regulations.

— ANI (@ANI) May 16, 2022

According to PTI, aviation regulator DGCA said a fact-finding committee found the airline staff prima facie violated regulations in denying boarding to a specially abled child.

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

As the boy was prohibited from boarding the Ranchi-Hyderabad flight, his parents – who were accompanying him – also decided not to enter the plane.

As per PTI, the proceedings of the committee were partly held in the open and partly in-camera as per the request of the affected family, it said.

“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 mentioned.

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“We have decided to conduct a fact-finding enquiry, which shall be done by a three-member team of DGCA. They will visit Ranchi and Hyderabad (the place of stay of the concerned family) and collect appropriate evidence within one week from today. Based on the outcome of the said enquiry, further action shall entail,” DGCA had said.

DGCA took serious note of the incident wherein a viral video showed the airline staff arguing with the family where a specially abled child was denied boarding, ANI said in a report.

Meanwhile, IndiGo submitted the report regarding denied boarding of a specially abled child and the regulators had ordered detailed investigations against the airline company.

“In the case involving denied boarding to a child at Ranchi Airport. We have received a report from the concerned Airline,” DGCA had said.

IndiGo barred boarding a specially abled child on Saturday at the Ranchi airport as IndiGo staff reported that, the “child was in a state of panic during boarding,” an airlines official told ANI.

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia expressed displeasure towards IndiGo and advised the authority to investigate the matter thoroughly and said there is a zero-tolerance for such discriminatory behaviour.

“There is zero tolerance towards such behaviour. No human being should have to go through this! Investigating the matter by myself, post which appropriate action will be taken,” Scindia tweeted.

According to ANI, on the other side, IndiGo’s whole-time director Ronojoy Dutta expressed regret and decided to offer an electric wheelchair to the specially abled child.

“We recognize too well that parents who dedicate their lives to the caring of physically challenged persons are the true heroes of our society. We offer our sincere regrets to the affected family for the unfortunate experience and as a small token of our appreciation of their lifelong dedication would like to offer to purchase an electric wheelchair for their son,” IndiGo said in a statement.

With inputs from ANI

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