An American Airlines passenger on a flight from New York to New Delhi reportedly urinated on a fellow passenger while inebriated. According to reports, the incident took place on board flight number AA292, which departed from New York on Friday and landed in New Delhi on Saturday after 14 hours and 26 minutes of flight time.
The accused, identified as Arya Vohra, 21, a US university student was allegedly in a state of inebriation and urinated on the passenger while he was asleep. The urine leaked and fell on the victim, who subsequently complained to the crew.
Airline issues statement; bans student from flying lifetime
"American Airlines flight 292 with service from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) was met by local law enforcement upon arrival in DEL due to a disruptive customer. The flight landed safely at 9:50 pm," an American Airline statement said.
The airline company said that it will not allow the passenger on board in future.
"Upon aircraft arrival, Purser informed that the passenger was heavily intoxicated, and was not adhering to crew instructions on board. He was repeatedly arguing with the operating crew, was not willing to be seated and continuously endangering the safety of crew and aircraft and after disturbing safety of fellow passengers, finally urinated on pax seated on 15G," American Airlines said.
Incident reported to airport ATC and accused was held upon landing
After apologizing, the student avoided the victim's urge to report the matter to the police due to the potential negative impact on his career. However, the incident was reported to the Air Traffic Control (ATC) at Indira Gandhi International Airport by the airline crew. The pilot alerted the ATC and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel, who were tasked with arresting the accused passenger upon landing.
The airport police have taken cognisance and taking legal action against the passenger.
"We have received a complaint of Urination on a co-passenger from American airline against one person Arya Vohra who is a student in the USA and resident of Defence colony Delhi. We are taking necessary legal action," Delhi Police said.
After the flight landed in New Delhi, the airline's security team and the CISF took the accused passenger into custody. The Delhi Police are currently recording statements from those involved, and the accused could face a ban from flying under Civil Aviation Rules if found guilty of unruly behavior.
Another peegate incident reported few months ago
This is not the first incident of its kind on a flight from New York to New Delhi. Last November, a man named Shankar Mishra urinated on an elderly woman in a drunken state on a New York-Delhi Air India flight. Mishra was later arrested and banned from flying for four months, and Air India was fined Rs 30 lakh for failing to report the incident within 12 hours.
