A passenger on a Delhi-Hyderabad flight was offloaded from the aircraft following an altercation with the cabin crew. The airline said that the passenger behaved inappropriately with the crew, following which he was escorted out of the plane. This is the latest in a series of incidents recently involving inappropriate behavior by travelers on Indian flights.

Offloaded

On January 23rd, a passenger on SpiceJet flight SG-8133 from Delhi (DEL) to Hyderabad (HYD) was offloaded from the plane following an altercation with the cabin crew. A video circulating on social media shows a man engaged in a verbal fight with a member of the cabin crew. Other occupants of the plane can also be seen mediating and defusing the situation.

While the exact reason for the dispute is not known, the flight attendant can be heard saying to the passenger, “she’s crying.” SpiceJet released a statement about the incident, saying,

“During boarding at Delhi, one passenger behaved in an unruly and inappropriate manner, harassing and causing disturbance to cabin crew. The crew informed PIC (Pilot in Command) and security staff of the same. The said passenger and a co-passenger, who were travelling together, were offloaded and handed over to the security team.”

According to reports, the passenger, who was traveling to Hyderabad with his family, is a resident of Delhi and has been arrested by the police.

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Recent incidents

Airline staff often have to deal with unruly passengers, but there has been an increase in such cases recently in India. The latest SpiceJet incident is one of many in India or India-bound flights in recent weeks to have hit the headlines.

In December, a passenger on an Istanbul-Delhi IndiGo flight was seen arguing with the cabin crew over an in-flight meal. A widely circulated video showed a heated exchange between the said passenger and a flight attendant. The man eventually told the flight attendant to shut up, and the flight attendant told him that she was not his servant.

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The same month, a group of passengers was recorded brawling on a Thai Smile flight from Bangkok to Kolkata, eventually leading to physical assault. Earlier this month, two passengers, reportedly foreign nationals, started harassing two flight attendants on a Go First flight at Goa’s new airport during the safety briefing before take-off. One of the passengers even asked the flight attendant to sit next to him and used inappropriate language.

Air India 777
Photo: Carlos Yudica / Shutterstock

But the incident that has shocked the most involved a drunk passenger who reportedly urinated on a fellow business class passenger on a New York-Delhi Air India flight in November last year. The incident has made national headlines, making Air India review some of its policies and even taking action against the crew on the flight in question.

What do you make of such incidents on Indian flights? Please leave a comment below.