Go First Fined Rs 10 Lakh After Flight Left Behind 55 Passengers In Bus

Go First Airline, which was being probed by civil aviation regulator DGCA for one of its flights leaving behind 55 passengers at the Bengaluru airport and taking off, was today fined Rs 10 lakh for violation of several air transport rules.

The DGCA or Directorate General of Civil Aviation sent notice to the airline for "multiple mistakes" soon after the incident and demanded an explanation. Go First's response revealed that there was improper communication, coordination between terminal coordinator, commercial staff, and crew regarding boarding of passengers in the aircraft, the DGCA said, adding that the airline failed to ensure adequate arrangement for ground handling, preparation of load and trim sheet, flight dispatch, and passenger/cargo handling.

Go First had apologised for what it called an "inadvertent oversight", and offered the affected passengers one free ticket to travel anywhere in India, within the next year. The crew involved in the incident was also de-rostered.

Flight G8 116 took off for Delhi from Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport around 6.30 am on January 9 this year, as 55 passengers, who had their boarding passes, and bags checked-in, were left behind in one of the four buses that took passengers to the aircraft.

The passengers were reportedly accommodated on a flight that left four hours later, at around 10 am.

The DGCA had said "multiple mistakes such as lack of proper communication, coordination, reconciliation and confirmation" were at play and resulted in a highly avoidable situation.

Airlines have been under extra scrutiny since last year, initially because of several mechanical failures mid-air, and more recently due to the crew's handling of unruly passengers.

Two Air India flights are under scrutiny over incidents involving drunk passengers.

The crew of a New York-Delhi flight were de-rostered after a drunk passenger urinated on an elderly woman. In another Air India Paris-Delhi flight, a drunk passenger had urinated on the vacant seat and blanket of a woman passenger. Another passenger, also inebriated, was caught smoking in the lavatory and refusing to respond to the instructions of the cabin crew.