In a viral video, a passenger on board an IndiGo flight from Delhi to Goa was seen assaulting one of the aircraft's pilots on Sunday, 14 January, while the latter was making an announcement regarding the flight status.
The incident took place on IndiGo flight (6E-2175), which had been delayed by several hours due to fog.
Who is the passenger? The passenger, Sahil Kataraia, was arrested after a complaint by IndiGo, and was later released on bail. In the video, Kataraia, wearing a yellow hoodie, is seen running up to the pilot to hit him. Following the altercation, the cabin crew was seen trying to calm the passenger down and heard saying, "What you did is wrong. You cannot do this".
In response, the passenger is purportedly heard saying, "Fly the plane or don't, but let us out". Later, a co-passenger restrained Kataraia and took him back to his seat.
What did the police say? "Anup Kumar, co-pilot of flight no. 6E2175 and security came to the police station and registered a complaint regarding one passenger named Sahil Kataria who assaulted and misbehaved with the co-pilot," Deputy Commissioner of Police, Indira Gandhi International Airport, said in a statement.
"He misbehaved on the flight and hit the co-pilot and created nuisance inside the aircraft," the DCP added.
On the basis of the complaint, a First Information Report has been lodged against Kataria under sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint), and 290 (public nuisance) of the Indian Penal Code.
Meanwhile, IndiGo put out a statement saying that the incident will be probed by an independent committee.
"On 14 January, during the announcement of a flight delay by the first officer of flight 6E2175, a passenger assaulted the first officer. As per protocol, the passenger was declared unruly and handed over to the local law enforcement agencies for further action. The incident is being referred to the independent internal committee for appropriate action and inclusion of the passenger on the 'no-fly list' as laid down in regulatory guidelines," the airline said, as per news agency ANI.
Disruptions at Delhi Airport: This incident comes amid major disruptions in flight schedules at the Delhi Airport. According to flight tracker website flightradar24, over 100 flights have been delayed and 79 cancelled on Monday due to inclement weather.
IndiGo, SpiceJet, Vistara and other airlines have also warned of disruptions in flight timings due to fog in Delhi and Kolkata.
On situation at Delhi Airport, Civil Aviation minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia said that the visibility issues due to "unprecedented fog" caused the halt of functions.
"The authorities, therefore, were compelled to enforce a shut-down of operations for some time even on CAT III runways (CAT III runways cannot handle Zero-Visibility operations). The decision was taken keeping passenger safety in mind, which remains the foremost priority for all in the aviation ecosystem," he posted on X.
He also said, "Incidences of unruly behaviour amidst this are unacceptable, and will be dealt with strongly in line with the existing legal provisions."
DGCA Issues Guidelines
In view of the chaos, DGCA has issued SOP stating that, "Facilities to be provided to passengers by airlines due to denied boarding, cancellation of flights and delays in flights."
It also made stated that the airlines are also required to publish the reference of the CAR on the flight tickets.
"Airlines shall be required to publish accurate real-time information regarding delays of their flights, which shall be published on the respective website of the airline, through advance information to affected passengers by SMS/ WhatsApp and email, display of updated information regarding flight delays to passengers waiting at the airports and appropriate sensitization of the airline staff at the airports to suitably communicate with and continuously guide & inform the passengers about flight delays," it added.
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