A London-bound Air India flight had to return to Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on Monday, after a passenger’s unruly behavior mid-air created chaos. The passenger, identified as Jaskirat Singh, physically assaulted two female cabin crew members, causing one of them to fall to the ground. Singh also attempted to open the emergency door of the Airbus, according to police sources. The two female cabin crew members had tried to stop him from doing so.
Jaskirat, a resident of Delhi, was accompanied by his parents on the Air India flight to London that had to return to Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport due to his unruly behavior mid-air. Upon reaching Delhi, all three were deboarded and Jaskirat was put under arrest after being questioned by the police. The trio was supposed to meet Jaskirat’s sister who lives in Canada.
The Cabin Supervisor of Air India Airlines filed a complaint with the Delhi police, alleging that the incident occurred on Flight No. AI-111, which took off from Delhi to London at 6:35 am on Monday. An hour after takeoff, Singh was seen at the L2 door, attempting to open it. The supervisor and her colleague tried to stop him, but he threatened to hit them and used abusive language. He then became violent and hit the supervisor hard on her neck, causing her to fall to the ground. He then pulled her hair and hit another crew member on her face. With the help of other crew members and passengers, Singh was restrained, and the flight was brought back to Delhi.
The complainant and other crew members underwent medical examinations at Medanta Medical Centre, after which police registered a case under sections 323, 336, 354, 509 IPC, and 22, 23, 29 of Aircraft Rules 1937. The investigation is ongoing.
In a statement, Air India said, “Safety, security, and dignity of all on board is important to us at Air India. We are providing all possible support to the affected crew members. We regret the inconvenience caused to the passengers and have rescheduled the flight to depart for London this afternoon.”
This is not the first time Indian passengers have exhibited unruly behavior mid-air. In one of the most infamous incidents in recent times, a passenger named Shankar Mishra allegedly urinated on an elderly co-passenger while inebriated onboard an Air India New York-Delhi flight in November last year. Mishra was arrested and later granted bail. Air India placed him on a ‘no-fly list’ in January, barring him from flying for four months.