Flier Who Attacked Air India Crew Mentally Unstable, Claims Family

The father of a passenger, who was deboarded from an Air India flight today for allegedly attacking the crew, has claimed that his son is mentally unstable.

Jaskirat had allegedly harmed two crew members on the London-bound flight this morning.

The family had boarded the flight from Delhi to attend a wedding in London, but an hour after the take-off Jaskirat said he wanted to get down, his father claimed, adding that his son had first attacked him.

A case was filed against Jaskirat by the airlines after the flight returned to Delhi to deboard him. The flight to London was then rescheduled.

The police said the matter is being investigated.

The Air India earlier said in a statement that a flight to London's Heathrow airport returned shortly after take-off due to "serious unruly behaviour of a passenger".

"Not heeding to verbal and written warnings, the passenger continued with unruly behaviour including causing physical harm to two of the cabin crew members. The pilot in command decided to return to Delhi and the passenger was handed over to the security personnel upon landing. An FIR has also been lodged with the police," the airline said.

"Safety, security and dignity" of everyone on board is important to Air India, the statement added.

The flight had taken off from the national capital at around 6.35 and it landed back safely in Delhi at 9.40 am following the ruckus, an airlines official said.

The airlines said it has also informed the aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) about the incident.