NEW DELHI: A mid-air wedding — with almost 130 onboard 'baraatis' not following required
Covid
time protocol — has invited regulatory wrath.
A
SpiceJet
charter flight took off from
Madurai
on Sunday (May 23) morning. The couple got married while the aircraft was airborne for about two hours. They completed the rituals when the aircraft was hovering over the revered
Meenakshi Amman
temple, before returning to Madurai.
However, the violation of Covid time protocol has cost the airline and the 'baraatis' dear now.
A senior
Directorate General of Civil Aviation
(
DGCA
) official said: “(The airline) crew has been off rostered (taken off duty). The airline has been directed to lodge complaints against those not following covid appropriate behaviour with relevant authorities.”
The airline says its Boeing 737 was booked by a travel agent for a “post wedding joy ride” and that all guests were briefed on the norms to be followed in these times and was denied permission for any activity to be performed on board.
“The approval for this flight was taken as a joy ride for the wedding group. The agent and guest passengers were briefed in detail, both in writing as well as verbally, on social distancing and safety norms to be followed as per Covid guidelines both at the airport and onboard the aircraft throughout the journey. The group was repeatedly briefed on the safety norms to be followed by the operating cabin crew and advised to follow the protocols laid down by DGCA including restrictions on photography and videography. Despite repeated requests and reminders the passengers did not follow Covid guidelines and the airline is taking appropriate action as per rules,” said a SpiceJet spokesman.
Tamil Nadu, like many other states currently, is under a strict Covid lockdown.
This is not the first time that onboard revelry has landed SpiceJet in a soup. Some years ago, in good old pre-Covid times, it had invited DGCA action for an onboard Holi celebration.
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