Bad call: ‘drunk’ Indian passenger removed from plane after trying to charge phone in cockpit
An airport official told Indian media that the man was drunk
.png?itok=arIb17P0)
A passenger was kicked off an IndiGo flight after he tried to access the cockpit to charge his phone, the Indian airline said on Wednesday.
The incident took place as the flight was preparing to take off from Mumbai for Kolkata on Monday.
“While an IndiGo aircraft being on the ground an unruly passenger tried to enter the cockpit stating that his mobile needs to be charged,” IndiGo said in a statement. “Following standard operating procedures the captain … initiated the offloading of the passenger on grounds of security violation.”
An airport official told the Press Trust of India news agency that the man, said to be in his mid-30s, was drunk.
Police questioned and then released him without charge, the official added.
It was the second bizarre incident involving an Indian domestic flight this week after a passenger tried to open an exit door in mid-air, apparently mistaking it for the toilet.
The man was travelling with GoAir from New Delhi to Patna on Saturday when he tried to open the aircraft’s rear exit, the carrier said.
Another passenger raised the alarm and the man was apprehended by the crew.
He was handed to the authorities for questioning on arrival and later released.
Indian media reports said he was a first time flier.
India’s airline sector has seen a six-fold increase in passenger numbers over the past decade as people take advantage of better connectivity and cheap flights, with many taking to the skies for the first time.
