Security breach: 2 passengers enter cockpit

In an alleged breach of safety regulations,two women were apparently ushered into the cockpit of a Nagpur-Dubai Air India Express flight by an airhostess,according to a complaint filed by passengers.

Arun Shrivastava,a passenger from Nagpur,said,“Soon after the flight got airborne from Nagpur international airport,I noticed two women,apparently a mother-daughter duo — sitting on seats 2D and 2F,being personally taken by an airhostess into the cockpit. I asked the airhostess what was happening. She said the ladies had gone to the toilet. I contested her claim and said I had seen the two entering the cockpit. Later,she yielded and said the Flight Commander had instructed her to do so and that the young woman was a trainee pilot. I protested saying they can’t play with the lives of the 79 aboard and asked for a complaint book. She said she didn’t have one but after persistent demand handed a piece of paper. We registered a complaint with Air India at Ahmedabad.”

While 62 passengers,including the two women,got down at Ahmedabad,17 flew onward to Dubai,said Shrivastava,head of an industrial group in Nagpur.

An Air India spokesman in Mumbai confirmed receiving the complaint. “We will question the crew once they are back in India. But in no way was the safety of passengers at risk.”