New Delhi: An unruly male passenger was offloaded Monday from a SpiceJet plane at the Delhi airport after he allegedly touched a female cabin crew in an inappropriate manner, sources said. Following the incident which happened during boarding the aircraft which was to fly from Delhi to Hyderabad, SpiceJet said it offloaded the unruly passenger as well as another person who was accompanying him.
Following a written complaint from the crew member, the passenger concerned was offloaded and handed over to the IGIA (Indira Gandhi International Airport) police station for further course of action, the sources added.
A senior official at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said it is looking into the matter and will take appropriate action.
“During boarding at Delhi, one passenger behaved in an unruly and inappropriate manner, harassing and causing disturbance to cabin crew of SpiceJet. 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,” SpiceJet said in a statement.
A video clip purportedly of a heated argument between a cabin crew and the passenger onboard the plane was also shared on social media.
In recent times, there have been various incidents of unruly behaviour by passengers onboard flights. Under DGCA norms, unruly behaviour can even attract life time ban on flying.
Two foreign nationals were offloaded January 7 from a Mumbai-bound ‘Go First’ flight from Goa after they allegedly misbehaved with a woman cabin crew member.
At least three incidents of unruly passenger behaviour onboard two Air India international flights last year came to light in recent weeks. Among others, there was also an incident onboard a Thai Smile Airways plane from Bangkok to Kolkata last month.