6 pilots taken off duty over Didi flight row

New Delhi, December 7

Two pilots of the IndiGo flight carrying West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and four others from Air India and SpiceJet who had reported “low fuel” while hovering in Kolkata skies last week, have been taken off duty following a probe into the issue by aviation regulator DGCA.

The regulator had ordered an inquiry to find out how three flights at the same time could fly low on fuel into Kolkata when the norms mandate them to carry enough fuel to enable hovering for 30-40 minutes as well as to carry it to the nearest diversion airport, which in this case was Bhubaneshwar.

A row had erupted over the flight carrying Banerjee following Trinamool allegations that the aircraft was not accorded priority in landing despite fuel shortage, and that “there was threat to her life”. 

A senior DGCA official said the six pilots have been taken off duty for “one week” while the air traffic controller who handled these flights had been told to undergo “corrective training”. The official said the probe into the issue was still going on. — PTI