Drunk student on American Airline flight urinates on fellow passenger

PTI, Mar 5, 2023, 9:37 AM IST

A passenger of a New York-New Delhi American Airlines flight has allegedly urinated on a fellow male passenger on board in a drunken state, sources said on Sunday.

The incident allegedly took place on flight number AA292, which took off from New York at 9:16 pm on Friday and landed after 14 hours and 26 minutes of flying at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport here at 10:12 pm on Saturday. ”The accused is a student in a US university. He was in a state of inebriation and urinated while he was asleep. It somehow leaked and fell on a fellow passenger who complained to the crew,” a source at the airport said.

He added that the male victim was not keen on reporting the matter to police after the student apologised as it might put his career in jeopardy. However, the airline took it seriously and reported it to the Air Traffic Control (ATC) at the IGI airport.

After the crew came to know about the incident on board, they informed the pilot who reported the matter to the ATC, which further alerted the CISF personnel who handed over the accused passenger to the Delhi Police.

”The airline’s own security team, along with the CISF, came into action after the incident came to light. The accused was immediately taken into custody once the flight landed. Police are recording the statements of the persons concerned,” another source at the airport informed PTI.

According to the Civil Aviation Rules, if a passenger is found guilty of unruly behaviour, besides action under criminal law, he will be banned from flying for a particular time period, depending on the level of the offence.

This is the second such incident in the last few months where a flyer relieved himself on a fellow passenger in an inebriated state.

On November 26, an almost similar incident took place on a New York-Delhi Air India flight, in which a man named Shankar Mishra had allegedly urinated in a drunken state on an elderly woman.

That incident came to light almost a month later through a media report, after which an FIR was lodged and Mishra arrested. He was released on bail after spending nearly a month in jail.

The DGCA imposed a fine of Rs 30 lakh on Air India for not reporting the matter within 12 hours of the incident in accordance with the norm.

While the Delhi Police is investigating the matter, Mishra has been banned from flying for four months.