Unruly fliers give AI a tough time

Two more cases of unruly behaviour were reported on Friday even as the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) takes its time to create a policy to curb the menace.

Two more cases of unruly behaviour were reported on Friday even as the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) takes its time to create a policy to curb the menace.

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Both the incidents that took place on board two different Air India flights on Thursday take the number of such incidents to eight this year.

Khalaaf Alanzi, a Saudi national aboard a Mumbai-Riyadh flight, was offloaded minutes before take off because his unruly behaviour had delayed the flight by an hour.

“The aircraft had pushed back for take off when the passenger started misbehaving with the crew and co-travellers. The pilot decided to offload the passenger,” an Air India spokesperson told Hindustan Times.

Subsequently, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) took his custody and handed him over to the Sahar police station.

In the second case, the CISF detained two passengers on board a city-bound flight from Bangkok for a few hours after touchdown for allegedly misbehaving with the crew.

The DGCA is drafting a policy to tackle the menace on the basis of directives issued by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the world apex body on air travel.

The directives drafted more than eight years ago suggested that each state could make amendments to the national law.

Directorate General of Civil Aviation chief Nasim Zaidi was not available for comment.