IndiGo Ranchi incident: DGCA forms 3-member 'fact-finding' team

India's aviation regulatory body the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has decided to conduct a fact-finding probe into the recent incident of one of IndiGo's managers allegedly denying boarding to a specially-abled child at Ranchi Airport. 

The DGCA has constituted a 3-member team in connection with the incident, reported news agency ANI. The team will go to Ranchi and Hyderabad to conduct an investigation. Hyderabad is where the specially-abled child's family is staying. The team will collect appropriate evidence within 1 week from today, explained the DGCA. 

The aviation regulator added that based on the outcomes of the said inquiry, further action shall entail. 

DGCA has ordered the fact-finding probe a day after an eyewitness account of the incident went viral on Twitter. 

On May 7, an IndiGo manager did not allow a specially-abled child to board a flight at Ranchi Airport. According to the eye-witness account shared on Twitter, IndiGo allegedly announced that the specially-abled child was a flight risk. He even compared the child's condition, teenage assertiveness, to that of drunken passengers. He judged the child unfit for travel. Ultimately, the flight departed for Hyderabad, leaving behind the child and their parents. 

Earlier on Monday, IndiGo's Whole Time Director and Chief Executive Officer Ronojoy Dutta issued a statement about the incident. 

"We had a very unfortunate incident at Ranchi airport on May 07, 2022, when a specially-abled teenager and his parents could not board their scheduled flight to Hyderabad," noted Dutta. Dutta added that having reviewed the incident, IndiGo is of the view that it made the best possible decision under difficult circumstances. 

The IndiGo CEO further explained that while providing courteous and compassionate service to customers is of paramount importance to the airline, the airport staff, in line with the safety guidelines, were forced to make a difficult decision as to whether this commotion would carry forward aboard the aircraft. 

Also read: IndiGo discrimination row: ‘Will investigate matter myself,’ says Scindia

Also read: IndiGo discrimination row: We made the best possible decision, says CEO