An Air India flight to London returned to Delhi today after an unruly passenger allegedly harmed two cabin crew members, the airline has said. The flier has been deboarded and a police case registered.
The Air India said in a statement today that a flight to London’s Heathrow airport returned shortly after take-off due to “serious unruly behaviour of a passenger”.
“Not heeding to verbal and written warnings, the passenger continued with unruly behaviour including causing physical harm to two of the cabin crew members. The pilot in command decided to return to Delhi and the passenger was handed over to the security personnel upon landing. An FIR has also been lodged with the police,” the airline said. Family members of the passenger, Jaskirat, have claimed that he was mentally unstable.
Airline crew, pilots and accountable managers have failed to act on unruly passengers including those found smoking, drunk, indulging in altercations, and inappropriately touching or sexually harassing co-passengers or flight crew, the DGCA said today and issued an advisory asking airlines to ensure action and immediate reporting in cases of unruly passenger behaviour to the regulator as per rules to ensure safe operations. It asked the head of operations at airlines to ensure sensitisation of staff on handling unruly passengers.