Air India has derostered nine employees, including two pilots, for taking on board three passengers in excess of the aircraft capacity on its flight from Mumbai to Mangalore two months ago.
One of the three extra passengers was also seated inside the cockpit on the 'jump seat' in violation of the rules, Air India officials said.
The additional passengers were issued manual boarding passes as the computerised ones could not generated because the flight IC-179, a 172-seater Airbus A-321, was completely booked on May 5.
The incident came to light when Directorate General of Civil Aviation was carrying out a probe into an incident involving the same flight.
An airline spokesman said while the commander of the flight, the co-pilot and some engineering personnel were derostered soon after the incident, employees involved in issuance of boarding passes for the extra passengers would also face strict disciplinary action.
Taking serious view of the incident, Air India chairman and managing director Arvind Jadhav has asked the executive director of the western region to probe the manual issuance of boarding passes to the extra passengers, pinpointing responsibility and the disciplinary action against those involved.
The spokesperson said guidelines have been issued to all employees for ensuring that safety rules and regulations, prescribed by the DGCA, were strictly followed.
The DGCA has taken a grave view of the incident and asked the airline to take action against the concerned employees of the commercial department for issuing the extra boarding passes manually.
Five names have been identified by the DGCA and given to Air India recommending action, official sources said.
As per established rules, the extra passengers would not have got any compensation had there been any mishap involving this flight, they said, adding that taking more passengers than the number of seats violated the basic principles of air safety.
ANI: In a clear violation of safety norms Air India allowed three extras passengers on board a fully loaded flight.
The Director General of Civil Aviation, which was inquiring into the collision of the aero bridge with Air India's IC 179 flight at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai, revealed this fact.
The Mangalore bound airbus A321 was damaged after colliding with the aerobridge on May 5.
The DGCA inquiry revealed that one-woman passenger was made to sit in the cockpit's jump seat behind the pilot, and two children were made to sit on foldable seats meant for cabin crew near the door.
Air India, which is going through a financial crisis, has entered into a new controversy. The DGCA can initiate criminal action against Air India for violating safety norms.
