Monkey worshippers will always be monkeys.



http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20091004/twl-stunned-passengers-watch-pilots-slug-3fd0ae9.html

Air India mid-air brawl between pilots and cabin crew


The pilots and cabin crew of an Air India flight brawled at 30,000ft after a stewardess accused a co-pilot of sexual harassment.

The cockpit of the Airbus A320 was reportedly left unmanned during the scuffle and at one point a pilot allegedly threatened to land Flight IC-844, from the United Arab Emirates to Delhi, in Pakistan, which it was flying over. According to Indian media reports, crew members threw punches and hurled abuse at each other in full view of 106 passengers.

Air India said it had grounded two pilots and two crew members over the incident, which happened at about 4.30am local time on Saturday.

The incident of [a] scuffle between the two pilots and cabin crew members of [flight] IC-884 was reported yesterday morning, said an Air India spokesman. As there have been claims and counter-claims between the parties involved, the management has ordered an inquiry, which is still in progress. Further action will be decided based on the inquiry report.

It is still not clear precisely how or when the fight started, but it is believed to have stemmed from an angry exchange during the pre-flight briefing at Sharjah airport in the UAE. Police in Delhi said that a 24-year-old stewardess accused one of the flight deck crew of trying to molest her and of pushing her out of the cockpit when she resisted.

Officers said that they had registered a case against two pilots identified as Commander Ranbeer Arora and Captain Aditya Chopra on suspicion of committing assault or use of criminal force against a woman with intent to outrage her modesty.

Satyendera Garg, the Joint Commissioner of Police, said that the hostess had suffered bruises and injuries on her hand and a medical examination had confirmed that she was assaulted.

The pilots are reported to have made a counter-claim, saying the harassment allegation was an attempt to divert attention from accusations of misconduct against a male flight attendant.

Air India enjoyed a monopoly until the mid-1990s but is now struggling to compete with new, private airlines. The mid-air brawl came three days after the Government had to intervene to end a four-day strike by Air Indias senior pilots which grounded its entire fleet and caused havoc across the country. The Government overrode the companys plan for a steep cut in wages for its best-paid employees to try to reduce accumulated losses of around $3 billion (£1.8 billion) including at least $875 million (£550 million) last year.

A week earlier, another Air India flight from the city of Amritsar to London had to be delayed by several hours after passengers noticed a rat on board.

The airline is also being challenged in the Supreme Court by nine air hostesses it dismissed in January for being overweight.

It is under fire, too, for having given free tickets to senior managers spouses, children, parents, brothers, sisters, and sons and daughters-in-law for more than a decade.

Manmohan Singh, Indias Prime Minister, pledged to support the airline in June, but also insisted that it undergo massive restructuring.

Air India employs about 32,000 people twice as many as it needs to operate and critics believe that the only way to make it more efficient is to privatise it.

It is almost too late for Air India, wrote Vir Sanghvi, a columnist for the Hindustan Times, yesterday. Lets try and save it before it dies. And the only way to save it, is for the Government to finally let go.

Haha, if the plane crashed i bet they would blame it on Pakistan.