An Indian bureaucrat is accusing British Airways crew of “racial discrimination” and “rude behaviour” after he and his family were offloaded along with another Indian family from a flight London-Berlin flight.
AP Pathak, a senior officer in India’s Road Transport and Highways, said in a complaint to India’s Civil Aviation Ministry, that a male crew member shouted at his infant son, saying “You bloody keep quiet, otherwise you will be thrown out of the window”.
According to Britain's Sky News, British Airways claims the family was repeatedly asked to sit their child down and fasten his seatbelt, as it was stopping the plane from taking off.
A British Airways spokesperson said the incident is being investigated.
"We take such claims very seriously and do not tolerate discrimination of any kind. We have started a full investigation and are in contact with the customer,” The Times of India quoted a BA official as saying.
Mr Pathak said he was travelling with his wife and three-year-old son on July 23 when the alleged incident happened while the plane was taxiing on the runway.
In his official complaint to the Civil Aviation Ministry, Mr Pathak is reported to have said his son had been crying and his wife was trying to calm him.
“A male crew member approached us and started shouting and scolded my son to go to his seat. My son got terrified and started crying inconsolably.”
According to the complaint, an Indian family seated behind Mr Pathak offered biscuits in a bid to calm the child.
“The same crew member came again and shouted at my son that ‘you bloody keep quiet, otherwise you will be thrown out of the window’ and we would be offloaded”, Mr Pathak said.
He said the plane was then taken back to the terminal, their boarding passes were taken back and they were offloaded along with the Indian family seated behind them without giving any reason.
"We requested them not to do so, but they didn't listen to us.
"We had to make our own arrangements for staying and travelling to Berlin the next day by paying a very hefty amount," he told ANI.
"Where's the law that a child can't cry on a plane. And we told them that we will take care now and that the child won't cause any inconvenience to anyone. But he said 'Stand up... I say, stand up.' We were harassed," Mr Pathak's wife, Manju Pathak said.
Mr Pathak said that besides the Civil Aviation Ministry and British Airways, he has also sent a complaint to India’s External Affairs Ministry and that he wants an apology and a compensation for the alleged harassment.
While India has no jurisdiction as the incident occurred in London, Suresh Prabhu, India’s Civil Aviation Minister has ordered a probe into the incident in order to take up the matter through diplomatic channels.
