New Delhi: On a Delhi-Goa IndiGo flight (6E2175) that faced significant delays, a passenger assaulted the co-captain after hours of waiting. Sanal Vij, a co-passenger, shared his first-hand account on X, expressing disapproval of violence but highlighting IndiGo’s mismanagement.
.@DGCAIndia @MoCA_GoI @JM_Scindia @IndiGo6E I don't support violence, but the airline took advantage and hid all their mismanagement and mistakes in lieu of what the passenger did. Below is a first-hand account of the incident. #DelhiAirport #Indigoairlines #Indigo pic.twitter.com/tNQBKQKwSi
— Sanal vij (@sonalchinioti) January 15, 2024
The flight, scheduled for 7:40 AM, departed at 05:35 PM due to multiple delays. Boarding, initially delayed by bad weather, was completed around 12:40 PM. Despite this, the flight doors remained open until 2:50 PM, with ground staff attributing the delay to air traffic control (ATC) congestion.
According to Vij, crew members were observed being unprofessional, engaging in lengthy conversations instead of attending to passenger needs. Despite completing boarding, the crew provided misinformation about waiting for a crew member until 2:50 PM. Allegedly, requests for water from elderly passengers were ignored.
The delayed crew member arrived at 2:40 PM, and although the doors closed, the plane did not push back immediately, leading to a verbal altercation with crew members. After addressing passengers at 3:20 PM, the assistant captain faced the assault. Food was provided after 4:00 PM.
Vij questioned IndiGo’s handling, calling for authorities to investigate the unprofessional conduct to prevent such mismanagement in the future.
Sahil Kataria, the passenger who assaulted the co-captain, was arrested and released on bail. In a video, he was seen charging at the co-captain, shouting at him to fly or open the door.
IndiGo declared the passenger unruly and is considering including him in the no-fly list. The incident is referred to an internal committee for appropriate action, emphasizing a zero-tolerance policy for such behavior.
Due to fog in north India, numerous flights faced disruptions, prompting the aviation ministry to instruct airlines to cancel flights delayed beyond three hours as part of new rules to tackle airport chaos.
#ImportantAnnouncement pic.twitter.com/bA09EJTQfN
— IndiGo (@IndiGo6E) January 15, 2024
