Got On Flight Drunk, Had Beer On Board Later; 2 Held for Consuming Alcohol on Domestic IndiGo Flight

Two men were arrested on Sunday for allegedly consuming alcohol on Delhi-Patna IndiGo (6E-6383) flight. Consumption of alcohol is prohibited on domestic flights in India. Some reports said that the men had a scuffle with other passengers and crew members over the same, however, IndiGo refuted the same later.

Indigo, in its statement, confirmed that the incident took place onboard 6E 6383 from Delhi to Patna, adding that the matter is under investigation with the authorities. The airline added that “there was no altercation onboard the aircraft, as what is being reported in some sections of social media”.

An FIR was lodged after the aircraft landed at around 8:50pm on Sunday. Airport sources told News18 that two of the accused, Rohit Kumar and Nitin Kumar, were taken into custody by CISF while a third person, Pintu Kumar, managed to escape from the airport. The airline denied reports of any scuffle and said that a complaint was filed after the incident as per protocol.

Both the passengers were already drunk when they boarded the flight from Delhi, and tried to continue drinking in the flight, reports said, adding that the CISF took them into custody and later handed them over to the airport police.

Sources at the civil aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said that a passenger informed the crew that some people were drinking beer inside the flight, an NDTV report said. They were reportedly a group of six people. The pilot was informed when the crew intervened and saw empty cans in the seat pockets, the report mentioned, adding that two passengers confessed and were handed over to the security along with relevant documentation, they added.

ADG HQ Patna, JS Gangwar, later said that the flight manager of the Delhi-Patna IndiGo flight handed over both passengers to the police, adding that they are from Hajipur. “Through a breath analyser test, it got confirmed that they have consumed alcohol. Action was taken against them under 377 Excise Act,” Gangwar said.

This incident is the latest in the series of mid-air issues and brawls and comes days after the Air India New York-Delhi flight “peeing” case where a passenger is allegedly of urinated on a woman in an inebriated state.

The Bengaluru Police on Saturday confirmed the arrest of Shankar Mishra, who is accused of urinating on the senior citizen co-passenger on an Air India flight from New York to Delhi on November 26.

Mishra was arrested from a guest house in Bengaluru and was brought to Delhi later where he was produced in a court over the matter. The court sent him to 14-day judicial custody.

The accused, who held a top post in the US financial services company Wells Fargo until he was fired on Friday, had been holed up in Bengaluru ever since a lookout circular was issued as the matter escalated over a month after the incident took place.