Crew aboard Air India flight AI 865 had to deal with a group of unruly passengers on Thursday 2nd January. Passengers started knocking on the cockpit door after their flight was delayed by a technical snag.Air India started off the new year with an unusual incident aboard flight AI 865 on Thursday 2nd January. Crew aboard a Boeing 747 serving Air India’s New Delhi to Mumbai route got an unexpected telling off by passengers on Thursday.According to reports by New Delhi Television Limited (NDTV), crew aboard flight AI 865 were manhandled by passengers after their flight was delayed. The flight was postponed by Air India after a 'technical issue' was reported on the aircraft before take-off.According to an official statement by the airline, "The flight got delayed due to a technical snag on Thursday. It had to return to the bay. Passengers started knocking on the cockpit door, asking and taunting the pilots to come out."

Passengers overreacting

There have been a number of news articles about this incident over the past couple of days, and none of them paint the passengers aboard flight AI 865 in a particularly good light.

Reports suggest that shortly after the news of a delay to the New Delhi to Mumbai flight broke, a large number of disgruntled passengers unleashed their anger on the flight's staff.

Not only are passengers said to have manhandled cabin crew, but reports also suggest that they started banging on the cabin door. An Air India spokesperson said,

"One passenger even said that he will break open the cockpit door if the pilots didn't come out."

As can be seen in the video of the incident below, passengers began crowding around the entrance to the cockpit once news of the delay had spread. One passenger can even be heard saying “open the door loser!”

How is Air India responding to the incident?

As shown by the response to this incident over the past couple of days, the Indian government is keen to set the record straight. The airline has already distanced itself from the actions of its passengers on Thursday.

Air India spokesperson, Dhananjay Kumar, said:

"A video of a few passengers of AI 865 is being circulated. The flight delayed on 2nd Jan due to technical reasons. Air India management has asked the crew for details on reported misbehavior by some passengers. Further action would be taken after inquiry."

Going off this account of the incident by Air India itself, it looks like the airline has launched an internal inquiry into passenger misbehavior.

Not only has Air India launched an investigation into the event, but India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation has also publicly asked Air India to “take necessary action against unruly passengers.”

We’ll have to wait and see what fate awaits the passengers involved in last Thursday’s incident. But it could inadvertently force Air India to tighten passenger regulations aboard its flights anyway, which probably isn't a bad thing.