Nepalese booked for attacking crew, damaging loo door on AI flight

A male flyer assaulted crew and some other passengers while also damaging the lavatory door aboard an Air India flight from Toronto to Delhi on July 8, the airline said on Wednesday.

The Nepalese citizen was handed over to security agencies on arrival at the airport in New Delhi.

"A passenger on flight AI188 of 08 July 2023 operating Toronto-Delhi displayed unacceptable aggression during flight. He smoked in the lavatory, damaged the lavatory door and assaulted crew and passengers, leaving them with minor injuries," an Air India spokesperson said in a statement.

According to the spokesperson, the passenger was warned several times by the crew and finally had to be restrained on his seat.

The police have registered a case under relevant sections.

According to the FIR, the passenger allegedly changed his seat after take-off and started abusing the economy class crew, following which he was warned. Later, he was caught with a cigarette lighter inside the lavatory after the smoke alert went off.

"When I opened the door in front of the passenger, he pushed me and ran to his seat 26F and when I tried to stop him at R3 door, he pushed and abused me again. He broke the lavatory door. Then I informed the captain immediately. With the help of cabin crew Punit Sharma and four more passengers, we tried to restrain him as per SOP (standard operating procedure). But since we could not control him, we sought help from more passengers and successfully restrained him," the FIR quoted the complainant as saying.

On arrival, the passenger was handed over to the security agencies for further course of action as per regulatory requirement and the matter has been reported to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the Air India spokesperson said.

A case was registered at IGI Airport police station under Sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) and 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code and Aircraft Rules, the police said.

There have been several incidents of unruly behaviour by passengers onboard flights in recent months.

On June 24, a passenger behaved in a repulsive manner aboard an Air India flight from Mumbai to the national capital and was handed over to the security personnel after the plane landed at Delhi airport.