Flyers Abuse Crew, Bottles Snatched In Latest Drama Over Drinking In Plane

Two passengers on board a Dubai-Mumbai IndiGo flight were arrested for allegedly hurling abuses at crew and co-passengers in an inebriated condition, a police official said on Thursday.

They were placed under arrest after the flight landed in Mumbai on Wednesday and were granted bail by a court, the official said.

In statement, IndiGo said, "Two passengers travelling on flight 6E 1088 from Dubai to Mumbai were observed to be in an inebriated state and continued consuming alcohol onboard despite multiple warnings from the crew."

"They verbally abused the crew and co-passengers. As per protocol, they were handed over to the CISF security staff for unruly behavior. Post the incident, a complaint has been filed at the nearby police station. We regret the inconvenience caused to other passengers," the airline's statement added.

As per police, the two accused are from Nalasopara in Palghar and Kolhapur and were returning after working for a year in the Gulf.

"The two started celebrating by consuming liquor they had brought from a duty-free shop. When co-flyers objected to the ruckus, the two abused them as well as the crew that intervened," the police official said.

"One of them was drinking while walking down the aisle. The crew took away their bottles," the official added.

They have been booked under Indian Penal Code sections 336 (for endangering life and safety of others) and 21,22 and 25 of Aircraft Rules, the Sahar police station official said.

As per officials, this is the seventh incident this year when a case has been filed for unruly behaviour by flyers.

On March 11, a man was arrested for smoking in the lavatory and trying to open the emergency exit of a London-Mumbai flight.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)