The
Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the regulatory body in the field of
Civil Aviation, on Friday, asked a report from IndiGo airlines for allegedly
violating safety norms and fleeting social distancing practices inside their
Chandigarh-Mumbai flight that had actor Kangana Ranaut onboard as a passenger.

Ranaut, who is in a middle of a tussle with Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut over her comments on Mumbai and its police, was sitting in one of the front rows of the Chandigarh-Mumbai flight on Wednesday, reported PTI.

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A video doing rounds in social media
shows media persons throwing flight rules, with respect to the pandemic, out of the
window, rushing and jostling to report for their respective media channels.
Media persons can be seen not following social distancing norms and some of
them can even be seen sans face masks or shields.

“We have
seen some videos wherein mediapersons are standing too close to each other in
the 6E264 flight on Wednesday. It seems to be a violation of safety and social
distancing protocols. We have asked IndiGo to submit a report on this
incident,” news agency PTI quoted a DGCA official as saying.

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On PTI’s request for a statement on this matter, IndiGo said, “We have given our statement to the DGCA regarding the matter pertaining to flight 6E 264 from Chandigarh to Mumbai, on September 9, 2020.”

“We would like to reiterate that our cabin crew, as well as the captain followed all the requisite protocols, including announcements to restrict photography, follow social distancing and maintain overall safety,” the airline stated.

IndiGo said it also followed the requisite protocol of documenting this matter in its post-flight report.

“We are committed to providing a safe, hassle-free experience to our passengers,” it added.

As per the Civil Aviation Ministry’s
social distancing rules issued on May 25, “on arrival at the destination,
the passengers should be allowed to exit (the plane) in a sequence so as to
avoid any bunching”.