A head pilot of the Kingfisher Airlines had violated the DGCA norms of not allowing any unauthorized person into the cockpit after he had taken a woman into the cockpit on a Delhi-Mumbai flight. He also didn't pay heed to the protests of the cabing crew and instead asked them not to intervene in the issue. The flight's (IT 304) crew on August 19 later sought action against the adamant pilot with the management on the grounds that he had broken the rules of DGCA.

Kingfisher spokesperson Prakash Mirpuri had said that the matter would be investigated further. DGCA had also ordered a probe and warned that the pilot who flouted the established rules be punished severely if he was found to be guilty.

DGCA is presently performing a safety audit of Air India and Kingfisher, both of which were hit by severe financial crisis last December after and audit.

The crew however had not pressed charges on the very day since they were all intimidated by the seniority of the pilot.

In fact, the pilot who was a training GM, was one of the few who was allowed to fly the bankrupt owner Vijay Mallya himself in his private Airbus corporate jet.

Usually, employees never complained against such officers but as they have not been paid since at least 6 months now, the fear of being removed from the organization has bore least effect on them.

According to sources, the pilot spoke to the woman in the cockpit even as a co-pilot was present. They also said that adding to the initial breach he asked the crew not to enter the crew which is a graver breach to exacerbate the intensity of the incident.

(AW- Anil)