NEW DELHI: An Indian passenger’s refusal to straighten his reclined seat before take-off first led to an argument with a stewardess on board a taxiing Bangkok-Kolkata flight this week and then a full-blown assault involving some fellow flyers who decided he should be taught a lesson. A viral video of the December 27 fracas on the Thai Smile Airways flight prompted the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) on Thursday to institute a suo motu probe and register a case with the airport police station in Kolkata.
Union aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia tweeted, “…Such behaviour is unacceptable.”
The airlines said the take-off had been “slightly delayed” as a result and “the incident has been taken care of as we followed the flight safety procedures in accordance with international standards.”
Flyers who recorded fracas were asked to delete videos
Two passengers who shot videos of a fight between some flyers on board a taxiing Bangkok-Kolkata flight this week had been requested to delete the recordings, but one of those made it to Twitter and instantly sparked online outrage.
Since Thai Smile hadn’t reported the incident, regulator DGCA and the aviation security bureau both sought a report from the full-service carrier, which currently doesn’t have a country head in India.
“Thai Smile Airways feels sorry for this. Our flight crews have already provided support to the persons affected by the incident,” the airline tweeted on Thursday.
Since the episode took place aboard a foreign airliner and abroad, the scope and jurisdiction of Indian agencies to act against unruly passengers is apparently limited. BCAS’s police complaint is against the flyer who started the assault as well as the one who was targeted for not following safety instructions.
“We have taken cognizance of the incident. This type of behaviour is unacceptable,” BCAS director general Zulfiquar Hasan told TOI.
“There were passengers seated in 38 A, B and C. When the crew asked him to straighten his seat during take-off, the person in 37C said he had a backache. The crew tried explaining that the seat must be in upright position (for safety reasons),” Thai Smile’s report to DGCA states. The airline quoted the passenger as telling the crew, “I fly often, I know what to do.” The stewardess then told the passenger that if he didn’t follow safety rules, the crew would be forced to report him to the pilot. “Ok, tell him. I am not scared,” he allegedly said.
Watch Fight breaks out between passengers on Bangkok-Kolkata flight, video goes viral
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