Air India urination case: Airline de-rosters pilot, 4 cabin crew members after Shankar Mishra's arrest

Shankar Mishra, accused in the Air India urination incident, has been detained by police in Bengaluru on Friday night. To further investigate the case, the authorities have also flown Shankar Mishra to Delhi. Following Shankar Mishra's arrest, Air India de-rostered four of its cabin crew members and one of its pilots while conducting investigations and imposed show cause notices to them.

According to the Delhi Police official, accused Shankar Mishra is not cooperating with authorities in the investigation and changing his statement frequently.

This notice was issued after the airline received criticism for two consecutive incidents of passenger misconduct while flying on international flights operated by Air India. Campbell Wilson, the CEO of Air India, requested on Friday that any instances of "improper behaviour on board" be reported to the appropriate authorities as soon as possible, even if the issue seems to have been resolved.

The CEO of Air India wrote a letter to the company's staff, stating that those who violate the flight regulations must be dealt with swiftly. Campbell said, "This week has, 'regrettably', been dominated by media headlines of which you are no doubt familiar. The repulsion felt by the affected passenger is totally understandable and we share her distress."

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He emphasised how crucial it is to alert authorities to any unpleasant events that occur during flights, even if the crew thinks the issue has been resolved. He stated in his letter, " Most importantly, even if we sincerely believe that the matter has been resolved between the parties involved, we must notify authorities as soon as possible if an incident on our aircraft involves such serious improper behaviour."  

The Mumbai resident, Shankar Mishra, was arrested by Delhi Police on Friday night after he was accused of urinating on another passenger on the November 26 Air India flight from New York to Delhi. After the incident was widely reported in the media, police released a search notice against Mishra, who had since gone missing and turned off his phone.

According to the police, after registering the official complaint regarding the incident, they started tracking Shankar's mobile location, which was found in Bengaluru. Upon contacting the accused, he reportedly switched off his phone.

(With inputs from ANI)