AI flight to London returns to Delhi after flier ‘hurts’ cabin crew members

The saga of unruly passenger behaviour on board flights continues. The latest incident was reported on Monday (April 10) from an Air India Delhi-London flight, which had to return to the national capital shortly after take-off when an unruly passenger allegedly hurt two cabin crew members.

The airline has reported that the flier was deboarded and a police complaint lodged.

“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 in a statement.

Also read: Drunk IndiGo passenger vomits, defecates near toilet in flight

Flight delayed

Highlighting the importance of “safety, security and dignity” of everyone on board, Air India added in the statement, “We regret the inconvenience caused to the passengers and have rescheduled the flight to depart for London this afternoon.”

The Boeing 787 took off with 225 passengers at 6.35 am and returned to Delhi at 9.42 am, according to Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The civil aviation regulator is also investigating the incident.

The incident on flight AI 111 is one of many instances of obnoxious passenger behaviour on board flights being reported in recent times. On Saturday, a 30-year-old drunk passenger from Kanpur was arrested for allegedly trying to open the emergency exit of a Delhi-Bengaluru Indigo flight mid-air.

Unruly flier behaviour

On March 30, Mumbai Police arrested a Swedish national for allegedly molesting a female crew member on board an IndiGo Bangkok-Mumbai flight. He was allegedly drunk.

Since November 2022, at least four incidents of drunk passengers urinating on fellow fliers have come to light. In another incident, fliers got into a brawl on a Thai Smile Airways flight from Bangkok to Kolkata.

On March 11, a 37-year-old US citizen was booked after he allegedly smoked in the bathroom and misbehaved with co-passengers aboard an Air India London-Mumbai flight.

In January, a 45-year-old Italian woman passenger was arrested after she allegedly assaulted a crew member and spat on another on an Air Vistara flight from Abu Dhabi to Mumbai.

(With agency inputs)