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New Delhi: The Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) yesterday threatened to file a defamation suit against Kerala parliamentarian P.V. Abdul Wahab for referring to a pilot as a"glorified driver".
Kapil Raina, ICPA president, told reporters that the organisation was considering bringing a defamation suit against the parliamentarian.
Raina accused Wahab of violating security by entering the cockpit of the aircraft and threatening the pilot.
Wahab, a Rajya Sabha member of the Indian Union Muslim League party, sought to move a privilege motion in parliament against the pilot, Captain Rajat Rana, after being forced off a Dubai-bound flight last Monday at the Kozhikode airport in Kerala.
Reacting sharply to the move, the pilots of flagship carrier Air India on 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 that "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."
Denial
Wahab, however, maintained that he never entered the cockpit.
Elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2004, Wahab is one of the richest and most well-known Non-Resident Indian entrepreneurs in the Gulf, with interests ranging from real estate to shipping to hospitality.
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