IndiGo pilot who flew Kunal objects to ban

New Delhi: The IndiGo pilot who flew Kunal Kamra has written to the airline's management asking why was he not consulted before a ban was placed on the comedian for heckling TV Editor Arnab Goswami on an IndiGo flight on Tuesday.

"I was disheartened to learn that my Airline has taken action in this case solely on the basis of Social Media posts, with no consultation whatsoever with the Pilot-in-Command. This is somewhat unprecedented in my nine years of Airline flying," reads the letter by the Captain to the IndiGo management.

The Captain said Kunal Kamra's behaviour, "while unsavoury, was not qualifying of a level 1 unruly passenger" and that he did not find the events reportable in any way, according to NDTV report.

"Pilots can attest to incidents which were similar and/or worse in nature that were not deemed unruly," he added. The pilot has sought a clarification from IndiGo saying, "Am I to understand that the bar for interpretation of a disruptive passenger is lower/different when it comes to high profile cases?" as the incident "leaves a lot of room for ambiguity."

News agency PTI has quoted IndiGo as saying they "have received the relevant statements and the internal committee has initiated the investigation regarding this incident."

Kunal Kamra was banned by IndiGo for six months on Wednesday. Three more airlines - Air India, SpiceJet and GoAir - too banned him "till further notice" after the government announced it was urging other airlines to follow IndiGo's example.

However, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) sources said the ban by these airlines on the comedian is a violation of due process in situations such as this.