Air India pilot allegedly assaults ground engineer, de-rostered

CHENNAI/NEW DELHI: The pilot of a Paris-bound Air India flight with 122 passengers on board today allegedly assaulted a ground engineer in Chennai shortly before take off following which he was de-rostered.

The unsavoury episode involving the state-owned airline delayed the flight that was operating via Delhi by three hours causing inconvenience to the passengers.

Air India said it has de-rostered the pilot following the incident and initiated a probe to ascertain the facts, an airline spokesperson said.

The pilot allegedly got into into a verbal duel with the ground engineer while boarding the flight and assaulted him after all the 122 passengers were seated, delaying its departure by around three hours, airport sources said.

The sources said the engineer, who suffered 'minor' injury on his chin, was being given medical aid.

The flight to Paris via Delhi was initially scheduled to take off at 8.45 AM but left for its destination at around 11.45 AM after Air India called in another pilot to operate the service, they said.

"We will await the probe outcome before mulling any further action against the commander," the spokesperson added.