Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Thursday called the scuffle incident between two Indian passengers onboard a Thai Smile Airways plane from Bangkok to Kolkata “unacceptable” and said a police complaint regarding this has been filed. A video clip of the incident that happened before the take-off of the A320 plane from Bangkok on December 26 was shared on social media on Wednesday.
Taking to Twitter, Scindia said, “With regard to the scuffle between passengers on board a @ThaiSmileAirway flight, a police complaint has been filed against those involved. Such behaviour is unacceptable.”
With regard to the scuffle between passengers on board a @ThaiSmileAirway flight, a police complaint has been filed against those involved. Such behaviour is unacceptable.— Jyotiraditya M. Scindia (@JM_Scindia) December 29, 2022
In the clip, a male passenger was being seen slapped multiple times by a few male co-passengers. The air hostess was seen trying to mellow them down.
A few moments later, one of the men says “haath neeche rakh (put your hands down)” and starts incessantly slapping and hitting the other on his face, turning it into a fight, alarming fellow passengers amid panic stroked air staff.
At one point, the flight attendant can be heard saying “just stop” on the microphone while other people gather around trying to come between them and stop the fight. A few other passengers also got involved in the scuffle.
Not many smiles on this @ThaiSmileAirway flight at all !On a serious note, an aircraft is possibly the worst place ever to get into an altercation with someone.Hope these nincompoops were arrested on arrival and dealt with by the authorities.#AvGeek pic.twitter.com/XCglmjtc9l— VT-VLO (@Vinamralongani) December 28, 2022
As the clip went viral, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) stepped in and filed a police complaint regarding the incident. It said the police have already started its investigation and further action will follow.
According to news agency PTI sources, the airline in a report submitted to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said the scuffle started sometime after a passenger refused to return his reclining seat to the straight position despite requests from the cabin crew, saying he was having backache.
The crew also told the male passenger that in case of an evacuation, a reclining seat will block passengers behind him from moving and that he will not be able to perform the bracing position properly. While the passenger refused to follow the instruction, another passenger came and the fight started, as per the report.
The captain was informed about the situation and the take-off was delayed. Later, things calmed down and the flight continued as normal, it added.
“BCAS has examined all reports from various entities, including those on social media and has taken a serious view of the incident. It has filed a police case under appropriate sections against all involved in the jurisdictional police station in Bidhannagar, West Bengal. The police has already started its investigations. Further action shall follow,” BCAS Director General Zulfiquar Hasan told PTI on Thursday.
On Thursday, a senior DGCA official said that in this case, the aircraft is registered in a foreign country and the incident also happened on foreign soil. “Our laws do not apply in this case as it is a foreign operator and as per Chicago Convention, the oversight is with their regulator. Therefore, that regulator has to take appropriate action,” the official told PTI.
Since the incident happened in Thailand, the regulator concerned will be the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT).
(with inputs from PTI)
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