Mumbai: Woman Causes Commotion Over Flight Delay on IndiGo, Abuses Pilot and Crew, Apologizes Before Landing

Ghatkopar woman Bandana Mishra has been booked for allegedly abusing the crew of an IndiGo flight on Monday.

A woman identified as Bandana Mishra from Ghatkopar has been booked for allegedly abusing the crew of an Indigo flight on Monday. As per information, Mishra boarded the flight on the night of June 24. The plane took off almost half an hour late, after which the woman asked the crew to change her seat. She was previously allotted seat 9 and later given seat 16 on her request. However, she refused to switch and subsequently started loudly abusing the crew members.

She even complained about the quality of water offered to her. Initially, the crew members ignored her behaviour and then requested her to remain calm. However, she continued ranting and later had a verbal duel with the crew about using the washroom, said the police. As she refused to settle down, passengers complained to the crew, after which she was given a verbal warning. However, she continued to create a ruckus.

The DGCA and the airline will decide on the action to be taken against the unruly passenger, if any, such as placing her on a no-fly list. The police said Mishra calmed down 10 minutes before the flight landed and apologized to the crew.

Mishra’s behaviour is suspected to have been triggered by the 29-minute delay in taking off from Varanasi. The complaint filed by crew member Sonal Jadhav (34) said Mishra stepped out of the front-end lavatory and began hurling abuses at the crew 15 minutes after the flight took off with 175 passengers at 10:39 PM. She allegedly abused even the captain, leading to the issuance of oral and written warnings, said the police.

“Mishra has to be present before the court at the time of filing of the chargesheet,” senior inspector Madhukar Sanap said. An officer said even passengers seated near Mishra signed complaint forms given to them by the crew. “Mishra ordered water and started saying it was of low quality. She continued saying ‘give excuses to other passengers, don’t fool around with me’ and kept abusing others during the entire journey. Even passengers seated next to her were annoyed with her,” said the officer. Another police officer said the woman threatened the captain, saying he would face consequences on landing in the city.

Mishra was booked under Section 22 (assault and other acts of interference against a crew member), Section 23 (assault and other acts endangering safety or jeopardizing good order and discipline), and Section 29 (acts likely to imperil the safety of aircraft) of the Aircraft Rules 1937.