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New Delhi: Air India is once again in trouble. The airline, in a shocking violation of air safety norms, allowed three extra passengers on board a full-loaded flight.

While one woman was accommodated in the cockpit's jump seat behind the pilots, two others were made to sit on foldable seats meant for cabin crew.

The incident occurred on the Mumbai-Mangalore flight on May 5.

The safety breach was discovered by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) when the aircraft's door got damaged and passengers had to be offloaded.

The cockpit is out of bounds for passengers and even cabin crew as following the hijack of American planes on 9/11, no one can enter the cockpit without the pilot's permission.

The DGCA can now take criminal action against Air India for violating safety norms..

The airline may have a tough time defending its action as carrying extra passengers was not only against safety procedures but also made the flight "illegal" meaning that the airline would not have been entitled to any compensation in the event of a mishap

The incident has put the Airline's operating procedures under a cloud. In carrying three extra passengers Air India has broken more than one norm.

The action not only violated the basic principal of air safety by taking more passengers than the number of seats on board but also having extra passengers on board could have caused weight imbalances on the aircraft.

Sending more passengers into the aircraft means extra boarding cards were issued illegally. As the process of issuing boarding passes is completely computerised, the system automatically stops generating passes once the flight is full.

Investigation shows the passes were allegedly issued manually.

Former Director General of Civil Aviation Kanu Gohain said that those responsible for this serious lapse should be brought to book.

"AI should find out persons responsible for this avoidable lapse. It is a chain of lapses and individuals involved should also be identified all those involved and responsible in the incident should be identified and put at task," said Gohain.

More on: Air India, Passengers, DGCA