New Delhi: In a serious incident, two passengers on a SpiceJet flight from Delhi to Mumbai were arrested for unruly behaviour on board the aircraft. They have been charged with misbehaving with cabin crew and co-passengers, while trying to force their way into the cockpit.
According to officials, SpiceJet flight 9282 was taxiing towards the runway when the incident occurred around 12.30 pm on Monday.
“While most passengers were in their seats with their seatbelts on, two passengers were on the aisle. We repeatedly requested them to return to their seats. So did other passengers, but they refused. They even tried to enter the cockpit after which the pilot decided to abort the take-off,” a crew member reported.
A video from the flight shows other passengers trying to reason with the two. The two are heard saying that they will return to their seats once the AC starts working. Passengers then tell the cabin crew to offload the two, so the flight may continue.
After returning to the gate, the two passengers were handed over to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). However, the ordeal for the other passengers did not end with that. The flight remained on the ground for the next seven hours and took off only at 7.21 pm.
SpiceJet has not given any explanation for this delay. Some say that such a delay is possible at a busy airport like Delhi if a flight misses its departure schedule. There are back to back flights and the next slot may be available hours later.
There are also those who suspect that a proper security check of the aircraft was carried out due to the abnormal behaviour of the two passengers. There is also a possibility that there was something actually wrong with the AC and the problem was rectified before the take off.