Air India air hostess, crew detained in Saudi Arabia over permit

New Delhi: The air hostess and crew members of the Air India Mumbai to Jeddah flight were detained in Saudi Arabia for three hours due to a permit issue.

The incident took place on June 26 when the crew members of the national carrier landed in Jeddah.

The air hostess and crew of the Air India flight 931 were returning to their hotel after having dinner when their taxi was intercepted by Saudi police to check their permits.

Despite showing the xerox of immigration and valid Air India IDs they were put in the police vans and were told not to use cell phones.

The crew members made a call to hotel and explained the situation and gave the location following which two hotel staff came for their release.

The staff showed the immigration paper to the police and tried to explain them but they didn`t listen and took the crew members to the police station.

The cell phones of the crew members were confiscated by the police and they were locked in a room.

After three hours, an Arab hotel staff came and explained the police official about their identity following which they were released.

The crew members and the air hostess were detained as xerox permits were not valid in Jeddah, and only original documents and passports are valid.

The crew members upon reaching hotel got a call from station manager, Jeddah, who enquired about the incident.

The station manager said that the amnesty period is over in Saudi and the government is throwing out illegal immigrants.