Adding to the growing list of accounts of passengers behaving inappropriately on Indian airlines is the latest incident on a Vistara flight. A female passenger on an Abu Dhabi-Mumbai flight had to be restrained after she assaulted a cabin crew member and spat on the other. The reason: she was denied a cabin upgrade mid-flight.

Demanding business class on an economy ticket

A passenger on a Vistara flight was arrested upon landing in Mumbai for misbehaving with the cabin crew members. The accused has been identified as a 45-year-old Italian woman Paola Perruccio, who was reportedly drunk.

The Times of India (TOI) reports that Perruccio went to the business class section and occupied a seat there despite holding an economy ticket. Things escalated quickly when the cabin crew asked her to move back to her economy seat, resulting in the passenger physically assaulting one of the flight attendants. TOI Quotes the affected cabin crew member as saying,

“Perruccio was in seat 11C in the economy class when she suddenly ran to the business class and sat on seat no. 1. She punched my face when I requested her not to sit in business class. When another cabin crew member ran to help me and told the flyer she could not misbehave on board, she spat on her.”

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Restrained

But the situation didn't end there. After the altercation with the cabin crew members, Perruccio removed some of her clothes and began walking up and down the aisle in a partially naked state. When the crew tried to calm her down and warned her that she was disturbing other passengers, she began verbally abusing them.

Finally, upon the captain's orders, she was restrained and tied to her seat at the back of the plane until the plane landed in Mumbai. A statement from Vistara said,

“In view of continued unruly conduct and violent behaviour, the captain issued a warning card and made a decision to restrain the customer. The pilot made regular announcements to assure the other customers on board of their safety. In accordance with the guidelines and our stringent SOPs, the security agencies on-ground were informed to take immediate action upon arrival. The incident has been reported to relevant authorities as per SOPs.”

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A medical exam in Mumbai confirmed that Perruccio was inebriated during the flight, and she has been booked for "an act of endangering life of personal safety and other bailable offenses under the IPC and The Aircraft Rules, 1937," according to Mumbai police.

This latest incident is one of many other similar situations reported in Indian media over the past few weeks. Hopefully, strict action from relevant authorities will act as a deterrent in the future.

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Source: The Times of India