‘Drunk’ passenger tries to open emergency door flap of Delhi-Bengaluru IndiGo flight, held

In yet another instance of passengers causing trouble on flights, a 40-year-old “drunk” traveller has been arrested for reportedly attempting to open the emergency door of an IndiGo flight. The incident happened on a flight from Delhi to Bengaluru. 

Flight 6E 308 departed from the national capital on Friday, March 7. 

"A passenger travelling on flight 6E 308 from Delhi to Bengaluru tried opening the flap of the emergency exit in an inebriated state,” said IndiGo’s official statement. 

IndiGo stated that once the "inebriated" passenger disobeyed flight regulations, the cabin crew rapidly alerted the captain and reprimanded the individual, assuring there had been no "compromise on safety."

The accused was handed over to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) once the plane landed in Bengaluru.

A probe into the situation has been opened, added the official statement. 

An increasing number of rowdy passengers 

In the last few months, there has been more disruptive behaviour on Indian airlines. Six persons were reportedly detained in 2022 for making a scene aboard aeroplanes. Notably, there have been eight arrests related to rowdy passenger occurrences in the first three months of 2023.

According to recent comments made by V K Singh, minister of state for civil aviation, ten people have been placed on the "No Fly List" for this year till March 15.  In 2021 and 2022, nearly 66 and 63 passengers were placed on the 'No Fly List'. Airlines have been instructed to follow a required process holding passengers accountable before they are prohibited from flying, by the regulatory  body DGCA’s guidelines - Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR)

According to recent reports, BJP MP Tejasvi Surya mistakenly unlocked the emergency exit on an IndiGo flight from Chennai to Tiruchirapalli in December 2022. The airline manager commented on the situation, saying, "The passenger immediately apologised. As per SOPs, the incident was logged and the aircraft underwent mandatory engineering checks, which delayed the flight’s departure.”