By IANS
New Delhi : The Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) Thursday threatened to file a defamation suit against Kerala parliamentarian P.V. Abdul Wahab for calling a pilot a “glorified driver”.
President of ICPA Kapil Raina told reporters that the organisation could file a defamation suit against the MP. Raina accused Wahab of violating security by entering the cockpit of the aircraft and threatening the pilot.
Wahab, a Muslim League Rajya Sabha member, wanted to move a privilege motion in parliament against the pilot, Captain Rajat Rana, after being forced off a Dubai-bound Indian flight April 7 at the Kozhikode airport in Kerala.
Reacting sharply to his move, the pilots of flagship carrier Air India Wednesday demanded an apology from Wahab, failing which they threatened to go on strike.
According to Raina, the MP breached the Indian Aircraft Rule 29, which states “no person shall interfere with the commander or with members of the operating crew of an aircraft or tamper with the aircraft or its equipments or conduct himself in a disorderly manner with the passengers or crew.”
But Wahab maintained that he never entered the cockpit.
Elected to the Rajya Sabha on an Indian Union Muslim League ticket in 2004, Wahab is one of the richest and most wellknown Non-Resident Indian entrepreneurs in the Gulf with interests ranging from real estate to shipping to hospitality.