New Delhi: India’s Civil Aviation regulator, Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) initiated an investigation over reports of mid-air marriage ceremony on Monday. DGCA has also ordered for the crew to be taken off-duty.
DGCA also asked a complaint to be registered against all the passengers who were part of the ‘onboard marriage celebration’ as it is in the violation of COVID-19 appropriate behaviour. The regulator said, “Crew members are off rostered. Airline directed to lodge a complaint against those not following COVID-19 appropriate behaviour with relevant authorities.”
Video of a couple tying the the knot on-board a chartered flight is going viral on Twitter. The flight took off from Madurai, Tamil Nadu with the bride and groom along with their family and friends. A SpiceJet aircraft had booked a charter flight by a Madurai-based private person for the mid-air marriage ceremony but authorities were not informed about the marriage on board.
SpiceJet never fails to disappoint.
Now EVERY OTHER day.
– In covid times a couple ties knot on-board a @flyspicejet chartered flight from Madurai (video forward)
– @aai_official unaware of the mid-air marriage ceremony
– @dgcaindia will launch “investigation” per ANI pic.twitter.com/jmWjhuk409
— Tarun Shukla (@shukla_tarun) May 24, 2021
“A SpiceJet chartered flight was booked yesterday from Madurai. Airport Authority officials unaware of the mid-air marriage ceremony,” said S Senthil Valavan, Madurai Airport Director.
Earlier, DGCA had issued guidelines for air travellers which clearly mentioned that airlines can de-board passengers from the plane if they were ‘wearing mask incorrectly’.
The guideline said, “Upon boarding the aircraft, in case any passenger does not adhere to wearing of mask properly even after repeated warnings, he/she should be de-boarded, if need be, before departure. In case, any passenger on board an aircraft refuses to wear mask or violates the ‘COVID-19 protocol for passengers’ even after repeated warnings, during the course of the flight, such passenger may be treated as ‘Unruly Passenger’.”
Now, the DGCA has asked for a full report from both the airline company and the Airport Authority regarding the incident. The regulator further said. “The adherence to above directions shall be ensured by all concerned with immediate effect. Strict action shall be taken in case of any violation.”
