Air India says passenger abused crew, assaulted one member; handed over to security at Delhi airport

Air India on Tuesday said a passenger on its flight AI882 resorted to unruly behaviour and assaulted a crew member. 

In recent months, there have been multiple incidents of unruly passenger behaviour onboard aircraft and the latest incident happened onboard flight AI882 enroute from Goa to Delhi.

"A passenger on our flight AI882 on May 29 behaved in an unruly manner. The said passenger verbally abused the crew members and then went on to physically assault one of them on board. On landing at Delhi airport, the passenger continued with the unprovoked, aggressive behaviour and was handed over to the security personnel. We have also reported the incident to the regulator," said an Air India spokesperson.

''Safety of our crew and passengers is of utmost importance to us and we strongly condemn this unruly behaviour of the passenger. We will offer all support to the affected crew members,'' the spokesperson added.

Earlier this month, Air India imposed a two-year flying ban on an individual who caused physical harm to two female cabin crew members onboard a Delhi-London flight on April 10.

An unruly air passenger can face flying ban for varying periods under the regulations of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

As per the rules, unruly passenger behaviour can be classified into three levels.

Unruly behaviour such as physical gestures, verbal harassment and unruly inebriation are classified as Level 1 while physically abusive behaviour like pushing, kicking or sexual harassment are classified as Level 2.

Life threatening behaviour such as damage to aircraft operating systems, physical violence like choking and murderous assault are considered as Level 3.

Depending on the level of unruly behaviour, an internal committee set up by the airline concerned can decide on the duration for which an unruly passenger can be banned from flying.

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