Passenger Slaps Pilot On Domestic Flight In India After Plane Gets Delayed For 10 Hours
A passenger on a domestic flight in India grew so upset with a flight delay recently that he slapped a pilot.
Source: @evgeniabelskaia on Instagram
He was detained by the police for his actions.
Passenger slaps pilot after 10-hour delay on India flight
Footage of the passenger slapping the pilot was posted on Instagram on Monday (15 Jan)Â by a woman who was also on the plane.
In her caption, she said the incident happened after passengers had waited 10 hours for take-off.
The clip started with a pilot standing at the front of the plane, making an announcement to passengers.
Source: @evgeniabelskaia on Instagram
As several agitated voices were heard, a man in a yellow hoodie suddenly rushed up to the pilot.
He raised his right arm and brought it down forcefully onto the pilot’s face, causing the latter to fall backwards.
As a female cabin crew pushed the assailant back, he ranted at her while another man in a blue hoodie came forward to calm him down and lead him away.
Clearly distressed, the cabin crew continued scolding the man, who appeared to keep up the verbal spat off-camera.
Source: @evgeniabelskaia on Instagram
Man taken away by police
The OP said the police took the man away after the incident.
The pilot also had to be changed, she added.
However, the passengers were in for more exasperation — they had to wait three more hours to take off, she claimed.
Passenger slaps pilot on domestic flight in India
The altercation was addressed in a statement released on X by Indian low-cost airline IndiGo on Monday (15 Jan).
It said an assault took place on its flight 6E2175 on Sunday (14 Jan).
Source: @IndiGo6E on X
The flight travels from Delhi to Goa, a distance of 1,987km that usually takes about 2.5 hours.
According to FlightAware, the flight was supposed to take off at 7.40am local time on 14 Jan but took off at 5.33pm after a 10-hour delay, contradicting the OP’s claims of a 13-hour delay.
The delays were caused by adverse weather conditions, including fog, at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, reported Indian broadcaster NDTV.
Filght 6E2175 wasn’t the only one delayed — several others also encountered the same fate.
Passenger may be charged, put on ‘no-fly’ list
Nevertheless, for assaulting the first officer (i.e. co-pilot) of the plane, the passenger was handed over to the police, IndiGo said.
The airline has referred the incident to the authorities for further action on the man, including putting him on the ‘no-fly’ list.
According to NDTV, the police are looking to charge him under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code, including voluntarily causing hurt.
They will also seek to classify the case under Section 41 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which allows police to arrest a suspect without a warrant.
Netizens denounce passenger but some express sympathy
The post generated much discussion, with many netizens denouncing the man’s actions and feeling bad for the cabin crew.
Source: Instagram
But a number of commenters expressed sympathy for the man, saying that while it’s wrong to hit the pilot, passengers would understandably be enraged if they had to wait for hours on end.
Source: Instagram
However, it was pointed out that flight delays were not the fault of the pilot. Rather, if the weather is below operating conditions, it’s unsafe for the flight to take off.
Source: Instagram
OP says pilot blamed the passengers
Later, the OP herself commented, appearing to show some support for the passenger and putting some of the blame on the flight crew.
She claimed that the pilot was “not nice” to the passengers and blamed them for the delay.
The woman then added that the cabin crew were also “not nice” and neglected to serve food or water to them.
Source: Instagram
Speaking to India Today, a passenger alleged something similar, saying the co-pilot was blaming passengers.
The co-pilot said that the passengers, who were asking questions, were holding up ground staff trying to coordinate matters, the unnamed passenger was quoted as saying.
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Scoot Flight From Bangkok To S’pore Delayed For 3 Hours Due To Technical Fault, Airline Apologises
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Featured image adapted from @evgeniabelskaia on Instagram.
