Indian Government: If Passengers Take Photo On The Plane, Airlines Will Be Banned

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Attention social media “influencers,” aviation bloggers, and those stuntin’ for the gram, count this as your warning.

The Indian Government has issued a unique warning about inflight photography that you may want to be aware of.

This weekend, India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) announced an order that says, in part:

• Passengers are NOT allowed to take photos without written consent
• The rules has been in place for a long time but airlines have not enforced it
• Starting today, airlines that do not adhere to the rules will have the flight route on which it occurred suspended for two weeks.

You can see the direct quote below:

pic.twitter.com/WiqckBK2w1

— DGCA (@DGCAIndia) September 12, 2020

If you’re not familiar with DGCA, it is an organization that investigates aviation accidents and incidents (very similar to the NTSB in the USA).

SO WHY THE SUDDEN ANNOUNCEMENT?

This past week, Kangana Ranaut, an Indian actress and filmmaker who works in Hindi films was traveling from Chandigarh to Mumbai, India and flying on IndiGo Airline.

Several media outlets had also booked seats on the flight so they could interview her. The problem was that once she boarded the plane, chaos broke out as the cameras, sound equipment, and media stormed the aisles while the flight was taxiing to the runway.

With a simple search of her name, you are able to find several images and videos on social media of the paparazzi not adhering to the instructions of the flight attendants to take their seats including:

FINAL STAMP

In this case, the DGCA is accusing IndiGo of not taking proper precautions for departure/landing.

It’s also worth noting that we are in a pandemic and the picture above is not ideal for social distancing.

As crazy as this sounds, I’m surprised this doesn’t happen more often.

As you can see from my AIRLINE REVIEWS, I take several photos on planes and I’ve learned that once you take more than a 5-6 pictures, people start questioning who you are and what you are doing. Some airlines are more sensitive about taking photos on their planes than others.

Personally, I’ve had several instances where I’ve been approached by 2-3 flight attendants (as a group) demanding to know who I am, see my camera, and delete all of my photos.

In one instance, I was also accused by a flight attendant of taking photos of passengers on the plane, despite having asked for permission to take photos of the plane, and boarding the plane before any passengers had boarded.

I allowed the FAs to look at every single photo on my camera because I knew the accusation was false but I still had to delete my memory card even after no evidence was found.

Does taking photos with a news cameras on a plane present a safety risk? Does taking a photo of your food or a selfie present a safety risk? Have you even encountered challenges capturing photos on a plane?