A passenger, on Air India flight for Sydney-Delhi, allegedly abused and assaulted a senior official on July 9, followed by a spate of unruly behaviour mid-air.
The incident took place when Air India official, who had to move from his business class seat to economy due to a malfunction in his seat, requested the accused to speak softly, a source said.
According to the source cited by Free Press Journal, the Air India official was allotted seat 30-C in the economy class. Since there were other passengers, he chose to sit in row 25.
“The official requested his co-passenger to speak softly. But he slapped the official, twisted his head and abused him,” the source alleged. When the five cabin crew failed to control the accused, the official rushed to the rear seats.
The sources have further claimed that the rowdy passenger was fiddling with the emergency equipment and was walking freely in the aisle.
The cabin supervisor was called in, who issued a verbal and written warning. The sources added that despite the physical assault, no restraining devices were used by the crew to contain the unruly passenger.
Reacting to the incident, the airlines issued a statement which confirmed that a passenger’s “unacceptable manner” was rewarded with a “verbal and written warnings.” The statement further read, “Upon the flight’s safe landing in Delhi, the passenger was handed over to the security agency, and he later apologised in writing.”