The extended delay of an Indigo Delhi-Goa flight Sunday led to shocking scenes of physical violence aboard the Airbus A20N while it was parked at the Indira Gandhi International Airport allegedly for over 10 hours.
An enraged passenger who has been identified as Sahil Kataria rushed up to the Anup Kumar, the flight’s co-captain, and assaulted him to hit him at least once before he was dragged off by a fellow passenger.
Disturbing Video Of Assault Raises Questions On Safety Inside Planes
It was filmed by a third passenger while s/he was recording the captain, who was announcing a further delay in departure. Reports have stated that an agitated Mr Kataraia – now in Delhi Police’s custody – came rushing up from his seat in the last row, charging at the staff in full view of everyone. Co-passengers exclaiming in shock can be heard as he hits the airline staff aggressively. His behaviour has raised questions about safety on board planes.
The disturbing video of the assault shows IndiGo crew rushing to help their team-mate who was caught quite unawares. Members of the cabin crew are heard hysterically remonstrating with Mr Kataria in Hindi and telling him, “You can’t do this… you can’t do this!”.
To this he responds still quite agitated, “Why can’t I do this? Chalana hai to chala, nahi to khol gate… (If you’re going to fly, then fly… otherwise open the gate).”
Another person can be heard, “We have been stuck here for hours.
It is unclear how long the passengers had been kept inside the plane.
What went wrong on Indigo Flight 6E2175?
The Airbus A20N that is a short-medium range single aisle jet based on the company’s popular A-320 model was scheduled to depart Delhi at 7.40 am. However, prevailing adverse weather conditions including dense fog at the IGI Airport the Delhi – Goa flight as well as dozens of others had been significantly delayed.
Notably, weather conditions in North India and in and around the national capital region have been poor for past several days with a cold wave and dense fog causing multiple delays, cancellations, and diversions daily. Alerts have been put out in the media asking passengers to check with their respective airways if they are flying in and out of Delhi.
Bengali