Boarding goof-up

Patna, June 15: A Delhi-bound Brazilian citizen got off a plane at Jayprakash Narayan Airport by mistake, exposing chinks in checking of boarding passes by airline officials.

The transit passenger, Santos Wallan Santos De Menezez, realised his mistake reaching the terminal of the airport. He was issued a duplicate boarding pass.

By the time the plane took off with him on board again, it was half-an hour late.

The goof-up was a clear violation of Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) regulations.

“As per BCAS and DGCA rules, a transit passenger is not allowed to disembark at any transit station as this could affect head count tally, which is done both by aircrew and ground staff. The door of the aircraft is closed only after the finalisation of the head count. Apart from the general regulations, airlines themselves file security manuals with BCAS, in which it is clearly stated that transit passengers are not allowed to get out at an airport,” a civil aviation industry source said.

The bizarre incident occurred on June 13. Santos had boarded Kingfisher’s Delhi-bound airbus IT-3347 from Ranchi. When the flight arrived at Patna airport at 8.15pm, he came out of the plane presuming it was New Delhi airport.

When The Telegraph contacted Santos, he expressed his inability to interact in English. Translating his version, a friend of his said: “I cannot communicate in English. Being unfamiliar to this country, I thought that the flight had landed in Delhi though it was Patna airport. Unaware of this fact, I went to the airport terminal only to realise that it was not Delhi but Patna. Although a new boarding pass was issued to me, I fail to understand that how come the staff at the exit counter did not even read the destination written on my boarding pass.”

Kingfisher sources confirmed the incident. The airline has started an inquiry into the matter.