A screengrab of the video showing the IndiGo flight passenger assaulting the pilot.
Credit: X/@Capt_Ck
A man on-board IndiGo's Delhi-Goa flight, where a passenger assaulted the pilot after multiple delays, shared the details of the incident on Monday.
Passenger Sanal Vij, took to X to describe the events that preceded the slap. "I don't support violence, but the airline took advantage and hid all their mismanagement and mistakes in lieu of what the passenger did", he wrote in the post.
Vij, in his detailed account, wrote that the flight 6E2175 was scheduled to take off from Delhi at 7.40 am on Sunday and eventually departed at 5.35 pm after facing 'multiple delays'.
After the first delay of five hours, boarding commenced around 12:20 pm and was completed by 12.40 pm, Vij wrote.
"Despite completing boarding by 12:40 PM (approx), the flight doors remained open till 2:50 PM, with ground staff attributing the delay to ATC (air traffic control) not clearing the flight because of the congestion", he wrote.
Vij wrote that the ground staff and crew provided 'misinformation' because at 1.30 pm, the pilot announced that they were waiting for a crew member and the flight would depart shortly.
He alleged that the crew members were being 'unprofessional' and 'ignored multiple requests' from elderly passengers for water.
"The delayed crew member arrived at 2.40 pm (approx), and the plane doors closed. However, the plane did not push back for some time, leading to passenger inquiries and a verbal altercation with crew members," wrote Vij.
He wrote that the pilot came out at around 3.20 pm to address the passengers about the delay, which is when the incident occurred.
"Violence is unacceptable, but what about IndiGo's mismanagement, unprofessionalism, and 185 passengers stranded without food for hours? The food was provided to us after 4:00 pm after being locked in the plane for several hours."
"The incident raises questions about the handling of the situation by Indigo. Shouldn't authorities investigate the unprofessional conduct and ensure such mismanagement doesn't recur?" he wrote.
Another passenger, a model from Russia, on Tuesday, shared details about the flight on Tuesday alleging that the co-pilot 'blamed' the delay on the passengers.
A case under sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint) and 290 (punishment for creating public nuisance) of the IPC and section 22 of the Aircraft Rules has been registered against Sahil Kataria, the passenger who slapped the pilot.
Following the incident, the DGCA released guidelines asking airlines to display updated information regarding flight delays to avoid disruption.
An internal committee has been set up by IndiGo to determine the best course of action. The inclusion of Kataria on the "no-fly list" is one of the factors under discussion.