Pilot violated SOP by flying plane with faulty AC: DGCA
In the wake of a viral video showing passengers fanning themselves due to a malfunctioned AC on an Air India flight, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said prima facie it appeared the pilot violated the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). The aviation watchdog said it would probe the incident, after passengers claimed the AC was not working even before take-off.
A day after a video showing  hassled passengers gasping for fresh air after the air conditioning system on their Air India flight developed a snag went viral, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) today said it'll probe the incident. The aviation watchdog said that prima facie it appears that the pilot of flight AI-880 from West Bengal's Bagdogra to Delhi violated the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). FLIGHT TO HELL The video showed passengers on board the flight were seen frantically fanning themselves with safety manual cards and in-flight magazines when the aircraft landed in Delhi on Sunday at about 4:05pm on Sunday (July 2).Passengers speaking exclusively to India Today said they discovered even before take off that the AC wasn't functioning. But when they brought this to the notice of the Air India staff, they were told that the system would work just fine after the flight takes off. But nothing happened.For the next two hours, they relied on whatever they could get their hands on - from newspapers to instruction manuals - to keep themselves from sweating and suffocating.A few passengers also tried to put on the oxygen masks, but these too were reportedly not working.ALSO READ: