Flight delay: IndiGo passengers attack pilot on Plane

Flight delay: IndiGo passengers attack pilot on Plane

A Delhi-Goa flight faced a long delay on Sunday, leading to a passenger, Sahil Kataria, attacking the co-captain, Anup Kumar. The plane was parked at the Indira Gandhi International Airport for over 10 hours.

Someone recorded the incident while filming the captain's announcement of another delay.

It's reported that Mr. Kataria, now in Delhi Police custody, rushed from his seat in the back row, sparking more concerns about plane safety.

A passenger punched an Indigo capt in the aircraft as he was making delay announcement. The guy ran up from the last row and punched the new Capt who replaced the previous crew who crossed FDTL. Unbelievable ! @DGCAIndia @MoCA_GoI pic.twitter.com/SkdlpWbaDd

— Capt_Ck (@Capt_Ck) January 14, 2024

The upsetting video of the attack, which has been widely shared online, depicts the IndiGo crew quickly coming to Mr. Kumar's aid. Cabin crew members can be seen passionately telling Mr. Kataria in Hindi, "You can't do this... you can't do this!" To which he replies, "Why can't I do this? Why can't I?"

Mr. Kataria then yelled, "If you're going to fly, then fly, otherwise open the gate." Another person said, "We have been stuck here for hours."

It's not clear how long the passengers had been kept on the plane.

What occurred on IndiGo Flight 6E2175?

The cause of the incident is unclear but this is what we know so far.

The Airbus A20N is a type of short-medium range single-aisle jet, similar to the popular A-320 model. It was supposed to leave Delhi at 7:40 am. However, the flight, along with many others, faced significant delays due to challenging weather conditions, including thick fog, at the IGI Airport.

Yes, the weather in and around the national capital region has been bad for several days. A cold wave and heavy fog have been causing numerous delays, cancellations, and diversions every day.

This morning, for instance, around 168 flights were running late, and almost 100 were canceled.

As per the tracking website, the specific IndiGo flight eventually departed at 5:33 pm, almost 10 hours behind schedule. The flight to Goa International Airport at Dabolim had a regular duration, landing at 7:58 pm. The actual flying time was 145 minutes, approximately two and a half hours.

After being pulled away from the captain, Mr. Kataria was arrested by the authorities.

Police have registered cases under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 'voluntarily causing hurt' and Section 41 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which allows arrest without a warrant.