'Unacceptable': Jyotiraditya Scindia on mid-air fight on Bangkok-Kolkata flight; police case filed

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Thursday said that a police case has been filed against those involved in a physical fight on the Bangkok-Kolkata flight of Thai Smile Airways. 

"With regard to the scuffle between passengers on board a @ThaiSmileAirway flight, a police complaint has been filed against those involved. Such behaviour is unacceptable," he said in a tweet.

On Wednesday, a video surfaced in which a group of people can be seen thrashing another co-passenger. The video went viral following which people said those thrashing up another person should be banned from flying.

Earlier in the day, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) said that it has taken cognisance of the incident and sought a detailed report.

"We have taken cognisance of the viral video which is showing a fight between passengers on a Thai Airways flight to Kolkata. The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has sought a detailed report from the concerned authority. Further action to be taken,” BCAS DG Zulfiquar Hasan told news agency ANI.

Thai Smile Airways said that the fight took place on 26 December before the flight took off from Thailand. It said one passenger was refusing to tie the seatbelt despite repeated requests from the crew. The passenger concerned continued to keep his seat reclined and this delayed the takeoff.

Then other passengers walked up to him which led to a verbal skirmish between the two. And soon, others joined and thrashed the person.

A witness later told a TV channel that the person who was thrashed was the one who refused to tie the seatbelt. The witness also claimed that this person was aggressive and kind of rude even when he landed in Kolkata.

Tamil Nadu Congress Committee Vice President Rama Suganthan in a tweet urged the aviation regulator DGCA to identify these passengers and ban them.

"Will @DGCAIndia identify these passengers and ban them? These are disgrace to our nation. Forward received on WhatsApp seem (to) have happened in the flight from Bangkok to Kolkata on Thai smile airways," he said.