Cricket legend Harbhajan Singh slams Jet Airways pilot for racist and violent conduct

Indian cricketing star Harbhajan Singh on Thursday (26 April) slammed Jet Airways and brought attention to an alleged incident of racism and assault by a pilot of the airline.

The pilot, named Bernd Hoesslin, allegedly racially abused and assaulted two passengers on a flight. One of passengers was a person with physical disability, according to Singh's tweets.

"So called this Bernd Hoesslin a pilot with @jetairways called my fellow indian(u bloody indian get out of my flight)while he is earning here," Singh tweeted.

"Not only was he racist but physically assaulted a lady and abused a physically challenged man..absolutely disgraceful &shame on @jetairways. Strict action must b taken &such things should not be allowed or tolerated in r country.. #proudtobeindian let's get together and sort this."

Singh, who is currently playing the Indian Premier League (IPL) with Mumbai Indians, was unhappy with the whole incident and took on micro-blogging site Twitter to express his frustration. He even urged Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene in order to find a resolution.

"@narendramodi sir this pilot BERND HOESSLIN working @jetairways calld my fellow indian (U BLOODY INDIAN GET OUT OF FLIGHT) pl take action."

The incident, which Singh was referring to, allegedly took place on a Chandigarh-Mumbai flight in the first week of April. Pooja Singh Gujaral, who was one of the passengers, in a Facebook post wrote that she was travelling with a wheelchair-bound friend and when the flight arrived in Mumbai, her friend's wheelchair didn't reach him at his seat.

Gujural claimed that that was when the pilot came and screamed at them for checking-in his wheelchair and delaying the flight.

Here is Gujaral's original Facebook post from 5 April.

Jet Airways spokesperson told IBTimes UK that the concerned pilot has been "de-rostered since the day of the event." They also confirmed the "concerned guest" has been issued an apology. The company said that the guest would be updated about the result of the investigation following its completion.

"Jet Airways takes a serious view of such incidents. The airline has a strict employee code of conduct reflecting its values and ethos which is clearly mentioned in the prescribed service conditions for all employees and is adequately emphasized during internal training sessions," a spokesperson told IBTimes UK.

"In continuation of our earlier statement dated April 06, 2017, the airline has already noted guest feedback with concern. The concerned pilot remains de-rostered since the day of the event, pending results of a full-fledged internal investigation that is currently underway, based on specific inputs from guests, concerned departments and law-enforcement agencies.

"Jet Airways will take corrective action as per company policy. Additionally, the airline has already issued an apology to the guest regretting the incident and will update the guest with the result of the investigation."