It happened yesterday.
KG, my best half boarded the Spicejet flight no. 852, from Srinagar to Jammu.
After ALL the security checks et all, (the no. of security checks in Srinagar are much more!) he boarded the aircraft.
The flight was full and all the passengers had occupied their seats. And just then, an air hostess and 2 officials reached the seat no. 16-D and asked its occupant to disembark from the plane.
The occupant of the seat no. 16-D was none other than KG!!
KG is all shocked and bewildered at this. To add to this, the embarrassment of being the cynosure of about 150 pairs of eyes!!
I am sure, the first thought many would have had “Oh, a terrorist??” or somebody would have even thought, “Oh, a handsome terrorist!!”
Amidst protests/explanations, KG disembarked from the plane and at the bottom of the staircase was his blue colored VIP Skybag, which was surrounded by 4 officials.
They explained that there’s some problem with the bag!!
And the problem was…
The seams of the bag was open by 5 cms!
So, they make him sign on his baggage tag.
And that’s IT!! I mean, THAT”S IT!!!!
Are you shocked? Angry? Annoyed? Irritated at this??
Well, KG truly was!!
So, when he entered back into the aircraft, he insisted on seeing the Pilot. When he came out of the cockpit, KG demanded a complaint register. And none was available.
Let me tell you, KG is damn impressive in creating a furore! And you bet, he created one for the whole flight to see!
At Srinagar airport (like many other airports), there is a process of Baggage Identification (wherein, you have to personally identify your baggage after check –in, after which it is loaded onto the aircraft). And it seems that the personnel at the Baggage Identification missed seeing this. (The protocol demands the baggage to be locked and intact!)
So, if he flunked on his protocol, why should a passenger pay for that!! I mean, should he be humiliated, targeted, harassed like that!!??
KG has threatened them with a defamation suit! And since then his phone has not stopped ringing. And you know who is at the other end!!
28 Responses
It must be a pretty harrowing experience. Glad its over.
A really horrifying experiance…
Ouch… that hurts…:P
You should really sue them… i once wanted 2 sue spice jet who made me drink Jamalgota found in my handbag while boarding.
Damm!!
I totally understand why he would be irked. I would have done just that. Hope you guys can force an apology and some repentance from them..
OMG!
But then as they say… ‘it happens only in India’…
First they make a mistake and then they approach the situation very badly…it could have been done in a better way.I am sorry it happened .I think they are answerable to this and it is good that they learn their lesson.
ah the handsome terrorist was vindicated !
But really, what a mess. It shows despite their rigorous check ups they still lack vigilance. sigh !
I hope they get their just desserts.
Shilpa! Defamation sue is not more for this case; Can imagine KG’s embarassment through the rest of his journey…Oops! today I’m gonna fly to India…:)
This is again the sorry state of affairs that the airlines are in when making procedural mistake… I think we should highlight these lapses and the the concerned airlines should be made paid for the Harassment caused …
It must have been very embarrassing,but defamation may not really be the answer.You must embarrass the Airline as well.
Legal cases take ages to settle.
In your place I would take a letter of apology and may be circulate it.Also,you may want to contact one of the TV channels.They are hungry for news(they may even find a sponsor)
Air travel is really getting difficult every passing minute, I had troubles clearing my luggage at the mumbai airport, when i was boarding a flight to sharjah, for I was carrying a dozen mangoes!!!, they dint believe the mangoes were mangoes and made me open up my bag……
You know we need a citizens air travel forum or something to inform us about our rights at the airports…
Dunno if its possible but just a thought
shahid
Security really needs to scale-up at all airports and make sure people are not harreshed at these little incidents.
Oh damn… that must be an embarrassing situation. I am happy one way that our security forces are really working sincerely in the first half… but that is very well defined in the later!!
It happened sometime back that the luggage bad had about 4 packs of american chocolates while passing through the luggage screening counter.. and when I looked at it later on after arriving home, there were only 3… 1 had gone missing!!!
Well…dont let them go easy ..
:)!!
what if there would have been real terrorist??
Ah man ! that would have been one hell of an experience when you are plucked out of your seat and being the center of attraction of more than 75 people and each weaving stories and seeing you in various dimensions and stamp you as a “potential threat” !
oooofs! Good that he made a furore! Hope he gets an appology atleast.
Oh…
Such cases repeat now and again!!! I seriously dont understand the whole concept of luggage identification on the first place itself!!!
oh ! its the embarrassing moment but it happens at times and you have to accept it !
@ garima : Oh yes, it was!!
@ pra : That’s right! 🙁
@ Ravan : Hmm…I know!
Are you kidding?? That jamalghota thing cant be true!! 😀
@ Madhu : Yeah, they have been apologizing profusely!!
Repentance?? They’ll say, “Yeah, we repent our actions till a new error is committed!!”
@ Roshmi Sinha : Oh yes, it happens only in India!!
@ kavita : Thanks Kavita. Whether a lesson is learnt or not, hope it doesn’t happens again to anybody!
@ avdi : Oh yes!! 😀
I know…such a mess in a place which is a high security zone! (rather state!) 🙁
@ Musings of a lonely traveler : No we are not gonna try that!! No time for all that!! 🙂
Nah, KG set it all right with the furore he created! So all was cool after that…except the spicejet officials! 😀
Hope you have a happy journey back home! 🙂
@ Dhiman : Agree with you completely!
@ BK Chowla : Embarrassing till KG created the ruckus, yes. Defamation and legal action…No.
Apologies have poured in! That’s a good idea…TV channels…they’ll have a field day! 😀
@ Shahid : Gosh…unpacking and re-packing Mangoes!!
Hmm…good thought!! 🙂
I second Mr. Chowla…take an apology letter in writing…and file the suit too…suit will take long, but letter won’t..n simply get it published..vaat laga do airlines ki
No doubt about it that it must be a harrowing experience. Very truly said that this shd have been checked at the luggage check-in level. Nevertheless they found this at the last moment which was okay. But what was not okay was the way they handled this situation.
They would have approached this in a much much better way considering that they are in a hospitality business!!
I personally would have felt extremely humiliated if I were to go through this… the luggage should have obviously been checked earlier, but the weirdest part is that they make him get off the plane as if he is a terrorist. I am sure they could have handled that better….
Thats indeed preposterous.. U guys mst tak this issue to its logical conclusion. All the best!
Hmm, who was on the other end?
Cabin crew could have made an announcement that passenger was asked to disembark due to damaged baggage and there’s nothing to worry
Hope you meet with a better luck next time…
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