New Delhi: No-frill carrier SpiceJet has
begun an enquiry into an incident in which a differently-abled
woman was off-loaded from its Kolkata-Mumbai flight yesterday
after the crew claimed it was not safe to have her on board.
The airline, which expressed regret at the incident,
said, "We are investigating the matter internally and action
will be taken" in the matter in which Jeeja Ghosh, a 42-year-
old teacher at Kolkata's Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy,
was offloaded after she had boarded the flight.
Ghosh was to fly to Goa to attend a conference and to
deliver a lecture on bringing the differently-abled to the
mainstream.
Expressing concern over the incident, Civil Aviation
Minister Ajit Singh told reporters here, "We will ask SpiceJet
and see what action they take against their pilot."
Under the existing Civil Aviation Rules set by the
Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), there are
detailed guideline entitled 'Carriage by Air of Persons with
Disability and/or Persons with Reduced Mobility' that came in
to effect in May 2008.
This rule specifically states that "no airline shall
refuse to carry persons with disability or persons with
reduced mobility and their assistive aids/devices, escorts and
guide dogs including their presence in the cabin, provided
such persons or their representatives, at the time of booking
and/or check-in for travel, inform the airlines of their
requirement."
PTI
First Published: Monday, February 20, 2012, 15:12