Spicejet Crew Summoned By DGCA For Celebrating New Year In Operational Flight
The celebration took place on SG 282 flying from Amritsar to Goa. Passengers were moving in the aisle, dancing, clicking pictures with the cabin crew mid-air.
The world celebrated New Year in different, cheerful ways. While firecrackers adorned the skies of New Zealand, Australia, Times Square in United States, Scotland and other places, India welcomed 2019 with close to 70,000 newborn babies; highest in the world.
Passengers who were travelling to and fro in India had to face delays due to bad weather conditions in north India. However, private airline SpiceJet decided to make this occasion merrier for its commuters.
On December 31, the crew members wore colourful wigs and held pom-pom in their hands to greet the passengers in their seats, reported Business Standard.
The celebration took place on SG 282 flying from Amritsar to Goa. Passengers were moving in the aisle, dancing, clicking pictures with the cabin crew mid-air. However, the celebration didn¡¯t go down well with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the regulatory body for civil aviation.
Photo: BCCL
The watchdog has summoned the airlines for putting the safety of the flight and its passengers in jeopardy. ¡°We have taken cognizance of a video of an incident inside SG 282 flying from Amritsar to Goa.¡± said a senior DGCA official to BS. ¡°This is a violation of cabin-safety requirements,¡± the official reportedly said.
What irked DGCA was the fact that movement of so many passengers along the aisle can disturb the centre of gravity of the aircraft. The regulatory body further said that participation of cabin crew in these celebrations wasn¡¯t appropriate and suitable action will be taken against them.
Photo: BCCL
A SpiceJet spokesperson has given a detailed explanation in which he has alleged that the video was shot by one of the passengers and not by the crew members. The celebration took place during cruise after completion of service and prior to the seatbelt sign coming. Cabin crew members were only greeting the passengers and as soon as the passengers started dancing, proper announcements were made and they were asked to be seated.
Airlines from time to time have known to host activities where passengers broke into a mode of dancing and singing. In January 04, 2016 Indian singer Sonu Nigam was travelling on a Jet Airways flight from Jodhpur to Mumbai.
The passengers on receiving the information requested him to sing and so did Nigam sang three songs using the flight announcement system. People recorded videos and clicked pictures. However, the incident didn¡¯t please DGCA which later suspended five crew members.
On December 31, 2018, Spicejet flight from Ahmedabad to Jodhpur made an emergency landing at the Ahmedabad airport due to cabin pressurization problem. Meanwhile, two SpiceJet pilots were suspended in 2014 when the cabin crew performed a small dance sequence around the festival of Holi.
Apart from writing news, Kriti is either listening to some good music or eating some good food. A lover of horror movies and adventurous rides, she is keen on making new friends.
