New Delhi: Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Thursday said that a police case has been filed against those involved in a fight on a Bangkok-India flight. Four Indian passengers flying home from Bangkok ganged up and thrashed another Indian flier onboard. The minister said that 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," Mr Scindia said in a tweet.
Thai Smile Airways said that the assault took place on December 26 before the Kolkata-bound flight took off from Thailand.
One of the passengers refused to adjust his seat as per the cabin crew's safety instructions. 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.
In a video of the incident, that has gone viral on social media, passengers can be seen beating a person who did not follow the rules.
The passenger does not hit back and is seen trying to defend himself as the crew and others on the flight try to stop the assault.
The airlines has said in its report that no passenger received any serious injury in the incident. It added that none of the fliers involved were served alcoholic drinks on the flight. There was no other disturbance for the remainder of the journey, it said. The report also stated that two passengers, who were spotted shooting videos of the assault, were requested to delete them.
Another passenger who was on the flight spoke to NDTV and shared a blow-by-blow account of what happened on the flight. He said that only the man who refused to adjust his seat was to blame.
Last week, a video clip of a heated exchange between a passenger and a flight attendant onboard an IndiGo flight from Istanbul to Delhi was shared on social media.
The heated exchange over choice of meals onboard the flight happened on December 16. IndiGo and Aviation body DGCA, last week, said they were looking into the incident.