A passenger in New Delhi attacked the pilot of a Goa-bound flight on Sunday over a long delay in departure.
The flight had reportedly already been delayed due to foggy conditions in the capital, and when the captain of the flight took the microphone to announce a further hold-up, police say the passenger lashed out in anger and hit his face.
A video of the incident onboard IndiGo Airlines flight 6E-2175 has since gone viral on social media.
The flight was scheduled to depart Delhi at 7.40am and passengers boarded the flight at 7am. However, they were told there was a delay due to unfavourable weather conditions.
“A passenger punched an Indigo capt in the aircraft as he was making a delay announcement. The guy ran up from the last row and punched the new Capt who replaced the previous crew who crossed FDTL [flight duty time limitations]. Unbelievable!” wrote a man who shared the now-widely shared video on social media.
The FlightAware flight tracking website showed that the flight finally departed from New Delhi at 5.33pm, following extended delays attributed to adverse weather conditions, including heavy fog that significantly reduced visibility. It also showed a mandated crew change was implemented due to FDTL (flight duty time limitations).
The captain, Anup Kumar, filed a complaint against the passenger with the Delhi police, according to the Indian Express. An investigation has been launched.
Devesh Mahla, a senior police official told the outlet that they received the complaint from Mr Kumar who said the passenger assaulted him and misbehaved.
“He hit the co-pilot and made a nuisance inside the aircraft. A complaint in this regard has been received from Anup Kumar. On this basis, an FIR under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections pertaining to punishment for voluntarily causing hurt and wrongful restraint has been lodged,” he said.
In the now widely-shared social media video, the pilot can be seen making the announcement and a man in a yellow hoodie then rushes towards the pilot and punches his face.
There were loud gasps from passengers on the flight as this scene unfolded in front of them. The man can be heard shouting to the pilot in Hindi: “Chalana hai chala, nahi chalana hai, mat chala. Chor de”, which roughly translates to “Fly or else leave us here” as he points to the aircraft door.
One of the air hostesses…
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