A bottle of Scotch!!!

Thats enough to open AI's poll

The rest of the media in India will off course take-off to heights of fantasy.

This is just what they need as well.

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1040902
 
A-I probing pilferage of liquor bottles from PM's aircraft

http://www.timesnow.tv/articleshow/1732996.cms
High flying theft
Official documents available with TIMES NOW state that as many as 29 bottles were later recovered from the bagges of the flight crew including the commander of that flight Captain N K Berry.

We give you a lowdown on the number of bottles that were found from the baggages of the crew members .

-- Commander N K Berry had 5 bottles in his baggage.
-- Air Hostess Lima Thapa had 5 in her baggage.
-- Capt Ajoy Almeida, another commander had 2 bottles.
-- First Officer Capt Rajiv Gupta had 2 bottles with him..

The incident has forced the civil aviation secretary Ajay Prasad to write a strong worded letter to Air India. The copy of the letter, dated June 27, 2006, is available with TIMES NOW and clearly states that Air India management has not been cooperative, while dealing with this security lapse. Vexed with the issue, Ajay Prasad had told Air India management to get back to him with the details of the progress on the matter at the earliest.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5168172.stm]
Air crew 'took India PM's whisky' 
  

 
The incident took place on a visit to Germany
India's national airline, Air India, is to take action against 14 crew members for allegedly stealing alcohol from the prime minister's plane.
The incident is said to have taken place in April during a visit by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Germany.

Angry officials from the civil aviation ministry had questioned why it took Air India so long to report the incident accusing them of a "cover-up".

The BBC's Sunil Raman says it is now being seen as a major security breach.

During the visit last April, the prime minister's security detail on board India's equivalent of Air Force One panicked when they discovered that one of the aircraft's cabinets had been broken into just before take-off.

  [The crew has been] completely cavalier and irresponsible in their behaviour

Ajay Prasad
India civil aviation secretary

A security alert was immediately sounded as secret service agents and intelligence officials scoured the aircraft for a possible bomb.

But all that they uncovered was the disappearance of several bottles of whisky.

They were eventually discovered in the luggage of the crew.

The airline said on Tuesday that its internal inquiry had established beyond doubt that the alcohol had been stolen during Mr Singh's visit.

'Smuggling' charge

Fourteen crew members were found carrying 29 bottles of top-grade Scotch whisky with the aircraft's captain - who is also a senior airline director - and a flight attendant found in possession of five bottles each.

When the captain was confronted, he said he had bought the whisky.

He is now likely to be charged with smuggling since Indian customs regulations only permit two bottles of alcohol to be brought in to the country by each passenger.

In a letter to Air India, which the BBC has seen, India's top civil aviation ministry official, Ajay Prasad, accused the airline of a cover-up since they failed to report the incident to the authorities in time.

"It is indicative of the fact that such matters are not taken seriously by Air India management," he said.

He said the crew had been "completely cavalier and irresponsible in their behaviour and they do not seem to have understood the implications of the security seal being broken".

The airline now says its internal inquiry had established beyond doubt that the cases of alcohol were pilfered from the prime minister's aircraft.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=126&art_id=qw1152622805467B253
India PM's top-grade whisky stolen on flight
The flight captain and an air-hostess's luggage had five bottles each. Under Indian customs regulations, they could be charged with smuggling, as the law only allow two bottles of alcohol to be brought in by each passenger. -
 
 
 

So Wheres the Bottles

regds

MEL

the_380 wrote:

---

U expect the bottles to still float about? Tell me one thing... It was the PM's official flight and flight crew, security agents, etc. are not supposed to drink while on duty... SO WHY WERE THOSE BOTTLES OF SCOTH THERE IN THE FLIGHT AT THE FIRST PLACE? 

---

It's a VVIP flight. There is special inflight programming, special menus and even silk baggage tags. Remember there are at least 200 journalists travelling with the PM. Special gifts and other freebies are thrown in. Menu cards too are special.

Apart from this the aircraft is modified to accommodate the needs of the PM. Crew too are handpicked.

So, there has to be a godown of the stuff!!!!!

http://www.uniindia.com/

'No breach of security, but pilferage occurred on PM's flight'
 

Created on : 07/11/2006 7:15:32 PM (NORMAL ) 
 
Mumbai, July 11 (UNI) Air India Chairman and Managing Director V Thulasidas today denied that there was a breach of security on the airlines' flight which carried Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on his visit to Germany and Uzbekistan in April, but termed it an ''act of pilferage.'' ''We assure that there was no security lapse at all, but, there was an incident of pilferage of liquor bottles,'' Mr Tulsidas told mediapersons at a hurriedly-called press conference here.

He said the incident reportedly occurred between April 21 and 26, during the PM's visit, but was detected on April 27, immediately after which an inquiry was carried out.

He, however, admitted that had there not been a 'leakage' of the incident in media, he would not have narrated the entire incident, for which already two committees were set up and the final report of the second committee was submitted to him today itself.

''We will examine the report from all perspectives and then will take appropriate action against the guilty,'' he assured.

He said the 35-member AI crew, including 21 cabin crew members, who were on the PM's flight, have been kept away from VVIP flights, till the guilty is found and those found involved in the incident, would be kept away from VVIP flights in future.

He said the action is expected within two-three days.

Another report from a US site.

Some details are interesting.

http://kutv.com/topstories/local_story_193174059.html
Report: Air Crew Steals Liquor From Government Jet
(KUTV / AFP) INDIA - An airline crew could be in big trouble for allegedly stealing bottles of whisky from the official jet of India's prime minister, while he was on vacation.

Officials say the Air India crew will be severely punished if the claims are proven true.

"We have already ordered an inquiry (and) those found guilty will be severely punished," managing director of India's international carrier V. Thulasidas said.

One of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's security officials said six bottles of Scotch whisky were removed from a sealed bar while Singh was on a trip to Germany and Uzbekistan in April.

The discovery of the broken seal triggered a bomb scare and a search led to the discovery of 29 bottles of whisky in the luggage of 14 crew members, with the captain and an attendant found possessing five bottles each.

The captain, however, insisted he had purchased the whisky for off-duty entertainment.

"We have told Air India that this amounts to a security breach and that action should be taken accordingly," said an official from the Special Protection Group, which is entrusted to guard the premier.

"No, no we are not interested in the Scotch but we want those who broke a security seal before the aircraft took off from Hanover for Berlin in Germany," he said on condition of anonymity.

Air India has two special Boeing planes fitted with missile shields and re-configured cabins for Singh or President Abdul Kalam when they travel beyond Indian shores.

Officials said the delay by the struggling airline in reporting the theft was also being probed.

(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

Which planes are these? Guess its a mix-up with the Embraers.

Struggling airline? Hardly. Considering half US' airlines are in Bankruptcy Protection..