Air India fined over passenger’s mid-air urination ‘peegate’ scandal, pilot suspended
- The man allegedly relieved himself on a 72-year-old woman seated in business class on a flight from New York to New Delhi
- Air India was fined US$37,000 for its handling of the incident and the pilot had his license suspended for three months
Air India has been fined US$37,000 for its handling of an incident in which a drunk senior US bank executive was accused of urinating on a female passenger, Indian media reported.
The man allegedly relieved himself on the 72-year-old woman seated in business class on a November 26 flight from New York to New Delhi, an incident dubbed “peegate” by the media.
The Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation also fined Air India’s director of in-flight services 300,000 rupees in addition to the carrier’s penalty of three million rupees (US$37,000), reports on Friday and Saturday said.
The flight’s pilot also had his license suspended for three months for “failing to discharge his duties” to ensure safety and discipline.
The banker, Indian national Shankar Mishra, was allowed to disembark as normal when the aircraft landed in India and no immediate action was taken.
The woman complained and, after the story was widely reported in the Indian media, police arrested Mishra weeks later after he went to ground and reportedly switched off his phone.