SpiceJet, the “hip” Indian low cost carrier, has landed itself in hot water with the Directorate General Of Civil Aviation (DGCA), over some choreographed inflight dancing during the Holi celebrations.
Here’s a video of the inflight dance on a flight between Goa and Bangalore:
Look, I’m basically the world’s biggest grinch/party pooper, but can’t for the life of me figure out what’s wrong with this.
Via The Daily Mail:
However, the DGCA yesterday issued a show-cause notice to SpiceJet, saying the dancing on board the SG-876 flight endangered aircraft safety and created an ‘unruly environment’, and asked why its licence should not be suspended.
The DGCA notice states: ‘Cabin crew acts had drawn the attention of other crew on duty, thus reducing their preparedness/alertness.
‘The frequent movement of the dancing crew may have affected the aircraft’s centre of gravity during flight and created turbulence.’
Really? Three people dancing on a 150,000+ pound plane is going to throw off the center of gravity?
A spokesperson for SpiceJet said the following:
A spokesman for SpiceJet said it had put on extra staff for these flights, adding: ‘The cockpit was manned at all time as per DGCA regulations that govern the situation when one pilot is outside for example to use the lavatory.
‘The dance was professionally choreographed and was Holi delight for passengers much like it is done by several airlines around the world to celebrate a special occasion. The entire dance sequence lasted 2.5 minutes.’
I mean, I kinda feel like this was innocent and well thought out fun, unlike the Air India flight last year where both of the pilots supposedly decided to leave the cockpit and take a nap in business class:
An Air India pilot has been suspended following claims that he and his co-pilot put more than 160 passengers at risk by leaving two female cabin attendants in charge of their airliner while they slept in business class seats.
They were only forced to return 40 minutes later when the attendants accidentally switched off the plane’s auto-pilot switch, according to the claims.
What do you guys think? Should SpiceJet be punished over this, or is the DGCA off base?
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