Aviation minister’s strong words after IndiGo pilot punched by passenger on Delhi-Goa flight

A day after a passenger assaulted a pilot onboard a New Delhi-Goa IndiGo aircraft at the Delhi airport over a delay announcement of the flight, civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Monday said the unruly passenger behaviour was “unacceptable”. Jyotiraditya Scindia, in a post on social media X, said all stakeholders were working round the clock to minimise fog-related impact.

A passenger hits an IndiGo pilot when he was making an announcement regarding a delay in take-off at the Delhi airport on Sunday. (PTI)

A passenger hits an IndiGo pilot when he was making an announcement regarding a delay in take-off at the Delhi airport on Sunday. (PTI)

“Incidences of unruly behaviour amidst this are unacceptable, and will be dealt with strongly in line with the existing legal provisions,” Scindia said.

According to Scindia, aviation regulator the Director General of Civil Aviation will issue a standard operating procedure or SOP for airlines on better communication and facilitation of passengers to minimise discomfort in view of flight cancellations and delays due to adverse weather.

Operations at the Delhi airport on Sunday were significantly impacted by dense fog on Sunday resulting in the diversion, cancellation, and delay of many flights.

One of the angry passengers on an IndiGo flight, number 6E 2175, punched a pilot when he was announcing a delay in takeoff at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, the police said on Monday.

A purported video of the incident, which took place Sunday, surfaced on social media and showed Sahil Kataria hitting the pilot, identified as Anup Kumar, as he was making the announcement inside the aircraft, which was bound for Goa.

The flight took off from Delhi at 6pm after a delay of over 10 hours, according to flight tracking website flightradar24.

In a statement, IndiGo Airlines said a passenger “assaulted” the co-pilot and that the matter had been referred to an independent internal committee for his inclusion in the “no-fly list”.

In the video clip, which went viral, other crew members could be seen shouting at Kartaria after he hit the pilot.

In another video clip, Kataria is seen being taken out of the aircraft by security personnel even as he apologised for his conduct. Later, he was arrested.
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