The on-flight marriage of a Madurai couple has landed the newlyweds into big trouble as the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has launched a probe into the above-the-cloud wedding as the relatives of the bride and the groom were seen floating the COVID-19 protocols on air during participating in the on-air wedding. While the first-of-its-kind wedding was a talk of the town, the couple was pushed to address the probe from the airline authority. 

On Sunday, Rakesh and Dakshina, the residents of Madurai, had tied the knot above the clouds. They got married onboard a flight in the presence of their relatives and disembarked the plane by making their wedding memorable and a precedent of unseen explorations during the lockdown. They had decided to rent the plane for two hours and they tied the knot onboard Spicejet from Bangalore to Madurai on Sunday in the presence of 160 people. 

They had decided to keep COVID-19 off from the auspicious ceremony and they tied the knot above the clouds. The reports say that they tied the knot exactly when their aircraft hovered over the Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple and the video of their wedding ceremony has been going viral on social media by garnering thousands of views. Following the wedding, the newlyweds had hosted a small reception at a hotel in the city. 

While it was reported that all the relatives who attended the wedding had cleared the RT-PCR tests before boarding the aircraft as per the protocol, several people had raised concerns since the passengers were not wearing the masks properly and failed to follow physical distancing, which was an explicit violation of the COVID-19 protocols. 

According to ANI, Madurai Airport Director S Senthil Valavan has on Monday said that the SpiceJet chartered flight booked on Sunday took off from Madurai airport. The authorities were unaware of the mid-air marriage ceremony. As the wedding had drawn nationwide attention, the DGCA has initiated the probe into the on-air wedding and has sought a report from the Airline and Airport Authority.

The DGCA has directed the airline to file a complaint with relevant authorities against the newlyweds and organizers for violating COVID-19 protocols. The reports say that the SpiceJet crew that operated the aircraft during the on-air wedding ceremony has been suspended from the duties. The wedding took place on Sunday when the government had given full relaxations in the state before the commencement of the complete lockdown. 

The full relaxation on Sunday had seen several weddings across the state as the families had decided to make use of the relaxation for arranging marriages for their children as the state has no surety on when the restrictions will get eased. Tamil Nadu has on Monday entered the fresh phase of the lockdown that will stay in place till May 31. On Sunday, Tamil Nadu has reported 35,483 fresh COVID-19 cases, 25,196 discharges, and 422 deaths. Overall, Tamil Nadu has recorded 18,42,344 cases so far as of Sunday of which 2,94,143 are active, 15,27,733 have been discharged, and 20,468 people had succumbed to the viral infection.