Woman friend let into cockpit by Air India pilot says crew in complaint

An Air India pilot operating from Dubai to Delhi on February 27 is said to have entertained a female friend in the cockpit, thus violating the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) safety norms.

News agency ANI while quoting sources said that the complaint alleges that the Captain wanted the crew to make sure that the crew appeared to be welcoming before his inviting his friend in. He also asked that she be served food in business class.

"Air India has constituted a committee to investigate the issues raised," an airline official said while confirming that it had received a crew's complaint on March 3.

The DGCA has summoned the flight crew to appear before it on Friday.

The complaint says that the issues on AI915 began even before the boarding. The cabin crew waited for the pilots beyond their reporting time and then proceeded to the aircraft without meeting them, the complaint said.

The pilots then boarded the flight with the passengers. The complaint also said that the Captain asked the crew to inform him if there were vacant seats in the business class as he had a friend who was travelling in the economy class and he wanted her upgraded. The crew however informed him that there were no seats.

The complaint also said that the Captain asked for his woman friend to be brought in to the cockpit. He had also asked for some pillows from the bunk for her comfort, while the woman friend sat on the observer seat.

"He said the cockpit should appear welcoming, warm and comfortable, as though he was preparing his living room for a lady friend. Also, to take her drinks and snacks order and serve her in the cockpit. I told him, 'Captain, I am not comfortable serving alcohol in the cockpit'. This seems to have upset him a lot and his entire attitude changed from that moment onwards. He became very snappy and rude and from there on started treating me like a servant working exclusively for him," the crew member said in her complaint.

"An employee of the aircraft operator, who has the permission of the pilot-in-command (PIC) and whose duties are such that his/ her entry into the cockpit is necessary for safe operation of the aircraft can only be allowed in the cockpit provided they have done the mandatory BA tests," reads the DGCA's Civil Aviation Regulation.

Further, it specifies that only people who have completed a breath analyser test are allowed to enter the cockpit.

The complaint read, "while she was inside, the crew was summoned multiple times, during the passenger service on the short Delhi- Dubai sector, to offer her business class fare food and snacks. Though it interrupted the flow of service all requests were promptly catered to."

" I noticed that the first officer was sleeping reclined fully with a pillow and the pilot in charge was sitting across facing the passenger in the rear observer station to chat. The pilot in charge indicated that the first officer (co-pilot) was taking a controlled rest and sleep," the complaint said.