Had Shakespeare ever sat in a plane, his Hamlet may have agonised over this question, instead of the famous ¡®To be or not to be?¡¯
Actors do not say the word ¡®Macbeth¡¯ before a performance of Shakespeare¡¯s drama by that name, because legend has it that the word is cursed. Instead, they call it the ¡®Scottish Play.¡¯
In aviation too, some words and actions are taboo, whether used in jest or unintentionally.
Once I had an elderly gent trying to open the aircraft aft entry door in-flight. He thought it was the toilet door.
I have seen many trying to open the cockpit door, mistaking it for a washroom!
We often laugh and overlook those mistakes, but some acts cannot and will not be.
At the airports and on board an airliner, certain words speak as loud as actions, because authorities construe them as unlawful interference.
(i) unlawful seizure of aircraft in flight;?
(ii) unlawful seizure of aircraft on the ground;?
(iii) hostage-taking on board aircraft or on aerodromes;?
(iv) forcible intrusion on board aircraft, or at an aerodrome¡
(v) introduction on board an aircraft or at an aerodrome, of a weapon¡
(vi) communication of false information with a view to jeopardise the safety of an aircraft¡?
Let me illustrate with recent examples.
A lady, upset over excess baggage charges, told the airline staff her bag contained a bomb.
Did she expect them to remove the bomb, reduce the weight and cancel the excess baggage charges??
They handed her over to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) cops.
Hers was a deliberate act, though in a fit of anger. There are cases of inadvertent mention that caused inconvenience and more.
During the check-in, they asked a gentleman to remove the kopra (dry coconut) from his baggage. He boarded the flight and called up home, and said they took away the coconut because it looked like a bomb. His neighbour heard that word and reported, which caused his detention.?
After he cleared the misunderstanding, the cops released him, but he missed the connecting flight to Dubai, where he was going for a job.?
Apart from the additional expense of booking another flight, imagine the outcome of turning up late on the first day for a new job!
Why did they remove the dry coconut from his baggage? That is because it is flammable.?
This is also the reason many flyers have to give up bottles brimming with Desi ghee (clarified butter) packed with love by mother-in-law.?
In the latest case, the crew said they heard a teenager talking on the phone, mentioning hijack, and the airline handed him over to the CISF.?
They will deplane you, place you in custody and produce you in court in all such cases. Even if the courts declare you innocent, you would have missed the flight, spent time in detention and spent money on litigation.
Just not worth it.?
As the song goes, ¡®Some things are better left unsaid¡¡¯
So, even if you think your girlfriend looks like a bomb, don¡¯t mention it during the flight. And if you meet a friend on board named Jack, please don¡¯t greet him by saying, "Hi, Jack!"?
The writer is a former fighter pilot of the IAF and is now a commercial airline pilot. He is the author of three novels and many blog posts, available at?www.avinashchikte.com