India's aviation regulator launches investigation on mid-air in-flight wedding

AN investigation has been launched by India's aviation regulator into the mid-air in-flight wedding in Madurai, in southern India, on Sunday (23) in the presence of guests and relatives.

The wedding took place inside a SpiceJet chartered flight wherein Covid-19 social distancing norms were violated, sources said on Monday (24).

According to sources, the chartered flight left the Madurai airport and remained airborne for approximately two hours on Sunday morning before returning there.

A senior official of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said that the flight crew has been off-rostered for not enforcing the social distancing norms onboard.

SpiceJet has been directed to lodge a complaint with relevant authorities against those people who did not follow the Covid-19 norms inside the flight, the official said.

Reports said that the DGCA will take strict action after it completes its probe into the incident.

Images and videos of the mid-air wedding were circulated on social media on Monday.

The images and videos purportedly show people standing extremely close to each other as the couple tied the knot.

"A SpiceJet Boeing 737 was chartered by a travel agent in Madurai on May 23 for a group of passengers for a joy ride post their wedding. The client was clearly briefed on Covid guidelines to be followed and denied permission for any activity to be performed on board. The approval for this flight was taken as a joy ride for the wedding group," said a SpiceJet spokesperson.

"The group was repeatedly briefed on the safety norms to be followed by the operating cabin crew and advised to follow the protocols laid down by the DGCA, including restrictions on photography and videography. Despite repeated requests and reminders the passengers did not follow the guidelines and the airline is taking appropriate action as per rules.".

India has been badly hit by the second wave of the coronavirus during the last few weeks.

The country's toll now stands at 303,720 after adding 50,000 deaths in just under two weeks and the total number of infections rose above 26.7 million, health ministry data showed.