Air India Accused Of Leaving Minor Passenger Traveling Alone Unattended At Azerbaijan Airport

Family seeks damages from national carrier after Karan Singh Kothari (11) was left to fend for himself at Azerbaijan airport. He spent the night on a sandwich and a glass of water.

mumbaimirror/representative image

Air India's callous attitude came to the fore when crew of a London-Mumbai flight left an unaccompanied minor to fend for himself at Azerbaijan airport where the aircraft was diverted after it developed a technical snag. The 11-year-old's family in Thane has lodged a complaint with the civil aviation ministry seeking damages against the government-run carrier.

Karan Singh Kothari, who studies in a London school, was returning to his family in Thane for vacations on July 10 when the Dreamliner he was flying in developed a technical snag and had to be diverted mid-flight.

After the flight made an emergency landing at Azerbaijan's capital Baku on the evening of July 10, Karan was made to remain inside the aircraft for two hours with the air-conditioning turned off.

After he was allowed to disembark, he was ushered in to the terminal of Heydar Aliyev International Airport where the crew left him unattended. He was stranded at the airport for the next 12 hours.

BCCL/representative image

The child spent the night on a sandwich and a glass of water, prompting the family to seek damages for the trauma unleashed on the 11-year-old. Karan's mother Sonali told Mirror that once the aircraft was diverted to Baku and passengers were asked to disembark, the crew completely forgot their responsibility towards the child.

"The crew handed over his passport and documents to the local staff in the tarmac bus who took my son to the airport, verified his documents and handed him a boarding pass and travel documents including passport and Karan's re-entry student permit issued by UK immigration," she said.

Karan was in the washroom when the boarding for AI's replacement flight was announced. Luckily for him, he heard the announcement and rushed to the gate. He informed the authorities that he was an unaccompanied minor and showed the documents.

BCCL/representative image

As per general practice, all documents of an unaccompanied minor are in the custody of the airline crew and handed over to the person receiving the minor at the destination airport. Sonali also objected to the manner in which Karan was left in an area where passengers of other flights too were present.

"There was no enclosure and the passengers were free to move. Karan was alone with no one from Air India to mind him. Being a child it was possible that he could have misplaced the documents or even got into a wrong aircraft," she said in a complaint to the Air India management.

The Kothari family is also upset that despite travelling around 12 times in a year on the London-Mumbai sector by Air India, something like this should have happened.

BCCL/representative image

"The treatment meted out to him was atrocious. No other foreign airline would have treated him the way AI treated him," Karan's grandfather BS Murdia said.

What has angered the family even more is the stoic silence maintained by the airline to their numerous mails.

"We have given them two weeks to respond with compensation, failing which I will be forced to escalate the matter and approach the consumer court," Sonali, who has since taken Karan on an outing to Lonavala, said.

Calls and messages to Air India's Chairman cum Managing Director Ashwani Lohani went unanswered.

Airline Rules

Children ranging in age from five to 12 and travelling alone are classified as Unaccompanied Minors for which the airline provides a dedicated service

For such travellers, the airline ground staff places the child under the guardianship of the cabin crew in-charge on board the flight

Upon arrival, the cabin crew in-charge hands over the child to the ground staff who then accompanies and assists her/him with baggage claim

The ground staff then reunites the child with the designated guardian at the arrival area