Madras HC asks govt to consider in-flight security announcements in local language

Chennai, Sep 13 Madras High Court on Monday directed the Civil Aviation Ministry to consider and pass an order on in-flight security announcements to be made in local languages of the origin city and the destination city apart from Hindi and English languages.

The court was responding to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) moved by Advocate B. Ramkumar Adityan of Thoothukudi stating that the safety of the passengers cannot be ensured if they can't understand the language which was used for announcements in flights.

The first bench of the Madras High Court represented by Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice P.D. Adikesavulu granted liberty to the petitioner to make a fresh representation to the ministry within four weeks and directed the ministry to dispose of the petition by giving a reasoned order within eight weeks thereafter.

The petitioner in his PIL said that the airline companies could use recorded voices in multiple languages to educate the passengers about the safety measures they must follow while flying. The litigant, B. Ramkumar Adityan said that this might not cost much for the airline companies but will help greatly in saving lives.

He also insisted that flight safety instruction cards must be printed in all the languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the constitution.