The minister, however, said that soon after the incident caught his attention, a midnight meeting was called and notices were issued within three-four hours.
Jyotiraditya Scindia [Photo: Twitter/@JM_Scindia]
Amid criticism over the recent chaos at airports due to flight delays, Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Thursday admitted the incident of passengers eating on tarmac at Mumbai Airport was indeed shameful and should not have happened.
The minister, however, said that soon after the incident caught his attention, a midnight meeting was called and notices were issued within three-four hours.
“The fact the passengers were inconvenienced, the fact that they had to eat on the tarmac, the fact that security had been compromised across all points was unacceptable. Within 3-4 hours, notices were issued and within 24 hours of the notices being issued, the necessary penalties have been levied…,” he said.
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The Civil Aviation Minister said that zero visibility due to dense fog made it difficult for flights to land and take-off and this led to the chain of events which resulted in the tarmac eating incident.
“We have had a few days of zero visibility. In those days, it becomes difficult if not impossible for landings & take-offs…That caused a chain of events which led to this aircraft coming into the airport and then going into a parking stand for reasons that I can’t even imagine…,” he added.
Earlier this week, a video of passengers of Indigo’s Delhi-Goa flight sitting next to the plane and having dinner at tarmac of Mumbai Airport went viral on social media.
Following the incident, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) issued show-cause notices to Indigo and Mumbai Airport. Within 24 hours of the notices, the BCAS slapped a penalty of Rs 1.2 crore on the airline and Rs 60 lakh on the airport.
An additional Rs 30 lakh penalty was also imposed on the Mumbai airport by the DGCA over the incident.
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