Man's bizarre complaint against Air India: 'Wasn't allowed to take my pet fish on flight'

A Bengaluru-based digital marketer, who was carrying a fish as a pet, has claimed that he was forced to leave the fish behind at the airport after being denied permission to board a flight.

Aqib Hussain was on an early morning Air India aircraft from Bengaluru to Srinagar when the alleged incident occurred earlier this month. However, the airline apparently claims that the water level in the container containing the fish exceeded the allowable limit.

According to a Times of India report, Hussain was going back home on an emergency flight to see his mother.

He took to Twitter to share the details which read, “I was not allowed to board a flight by flight ground staff and my boarding cards were stanched by one of higher rank official for carrying a live aquarium fish in a transparent container whose weight was 50 grams.@airindia staff forced me to through fish in dustbin (sic).”

The man was reportedly carrying a two-year-old Siamese fighter and the water in the container surpassed the permissible limit of 100 ml.

Tagging Air India and Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, he said that it was the “worst experience” of his life. Hussain was first informed that his pet fish will be checked and then he was asked to pay a fine of Rs 1,350 as carrying charges. 

“I agreed. Finally they said the captain is not allowing fish on the plane which was shocking for me,” he tweeted.

“…we all are well aware that sir @RNTata2000 is a pet lover. He can understand the pain of losing a pet because of @airindiain Bangalore staff,” he wrote in the beginning of this thread.

"We tried explaining to him that the captain's clearance was final and that the water level in the box would not be cleared for flight. Even if it’s cleared, he will need to undergo another round of checks in Delhi. But he was not willing to listen to us and remained hysterical,” an Air India source told Times of India.

According to the sources quoted by TOI, the airline employees handed over Hussain's pet fish to his relative in Bengaluru, and it is healthy and safe.