IndiGo pilot raises objection to ban on Kunal Kamra

Mumbai : The IndiGo pilot, who flew Kunal Kamra on the plane he allegedly heckled news editor Arnab Goswami, has written a letter to the authorities asking why he has not been consulted on the matter before imposing a ban on the passenger.

"I was disheartened to learn that my Airline has taken action in this case solely on the basis of Social Media posts, with no consultation whatsoever with the Pilot-in-Command. This is somewhat unprecedented in my nine years of Airline flying," reads the letter by the Captain to the IndiGo management.

The Captain said Kunal Kamra's behaviour, "while unsavoury, was not qualifying of a level 1 unruly passenger" and that he did not find the events reportable in any way.

"Pilots can attest to incidents which were similar and/or worse in nature that were not deemed unruly," he added.

The pilot has sought a clarification from IndiGo saying, "Am I to understand that the bar for interpretation of a disruptive passenger is lower/different when it comes to high profile cases?" as the incident "leaves a lot of room for ambiguity."

Meanwhile, IndiGo told PTI that they have initiated an internal investigation in the matter and have collected statements from the people present at the incident site.

Four airlines operating in India have imposed a six month ban on Kunal Kamra, the move has also been questioned by DGCA, posting questions on what procedures have been followed before the imposition of such ban.

According to the sources, Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) state that on receipt of a complaint an internal committee must be formed, within 30 days to probe the matter. The decision taken by the committee can be appealed against in an appellate body of the Civil Aviation Ministry and a court.

Meanwhile, passengers can only get a temporary 30-day ban.