In India during winter, you will find that several flights get delayed, especially early morning flights because of something called ‘low visibility’ which usually happens because of excessive fog. When the visibility drops a certain percentage, say 50%, landing and take-off become challenging for flights due to compromised pilot visibility. During such times, the pilot is unable to accurately gauge the runway and surroundings. As a result of this, flights get cancelled, delayed, or diverted which is an inconvenience for both the crew and the flight passengers.
IndiGo flight 6E-2175 travelling from Delhi to Goa faced a 13-hour delay on Sunday because of low visibility, reported NDTV. One of the passengers got so agitated that he went on to attack the pilot, who was making an announcement for the passengers. A flight attendant removed the passenger from the pilot and screamed at him saying that he could not behave in such a manner. The entire incident was captured on camera.
Here’s a look at the video:
A passenger punched an Indigo capt in the aircraft as he was making delay announcement. The guy ran up from the last row and punched the new Capt who replaced the previous crew who crossed FDTL. Unbelievable ! @DGCAIndia @MoCA_GoI pic.twitter.com/SkdlpWbaDd
— Capt_Ck (@Capt_Ck) January 14, 2024
Several people online were disappointed by this kind of behavior and said that while it is only natural for passengers to get angered by such a massive delay, attacking the pilot was downright unacceptable. They asked the authorities to put the passenger on the no-fly list.
What does the pilot or cabin crew have to do with the delay? They were just doing their job.
Arrest this man, and put him on the no-fly list. Publish his picture so people are aware of his bad temper in public.
— Ishwar Singh (@IshwarBagga) January 14, 2024
This person should be booked for assault as well as put on a No Fly List. While @IndiGo6E is in the news for all the wrong reasons and must be taken to task for its shortcomings, but this is totally unacceptable passenger behaviour.
— Dr Saurabh S Sachar 🇮🇳 (@doc_sacharr) January 14, 2024
Frustration doesn’t give a passenger the right to physically assault a Crew member.
— Amazing Credit Cards (@AmazingCreditC) January 14, 2024
That’s insane,, People like this should be banned from flying or should be blacklisted.. Crew aren’t safe atall, imagine how dangerous such ppl could be on board or in cruise…
— Shikkha Yadav (@yadavshikkha) January 14, 2024
Its not justified that the staff is assaulted like this. Its non acceptable. On the other side imagine his frustration. There are comments all over X on people missing connecting flights, etc. Hence action needs to be taken against @IndiGo6E – their code of conduct needs to be…
— Reshma (@resh1978) January 15, 2024
The passenger has been identified as Sahil Kataria and the pilot has filed an official complaint against him. IndiGo is also in the process of filing an official case against him.
Nothing gives a passenger the right to assault a member of the cabin crew for situations way beyond their control.