Two FIRs Filed After Passenger and Airline Crew Clash at RGI Airport

A 29-year-old passenger travelling with his cancer-patient mother was deboarded from a Bagdogra-bound flight at Rajiv Gandhi International (RGI) Airport in Hyderabad on Sunday following an altercation with airline crew over a departure delay. Following the incident, both the airline staff and the passenger lodged complaints against each other, leading the RGI Airport police to register two separate First Information Reports (FIRs).

According to the complaint filed by the private airline's security manager, the passenger, seated in 2E on flight 6E6872, broke a galley partition window between two sections of the aircraft with his elbow. The airline alleged that the act caused damage worth over Rs 1 lakh and disrupted the flight schedule.

The airline also claimed that the passenger refused to deboard when asked by the captain and lead crew member, allegedly causing a disturbance for nearly 90 minutes. Staff stated that he assaulted the ramp operations manager and security personnel before being escorted off the plane by airline security and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel. Due to the disturbance, the flight, scheduled to take off at 8:15 am, departed at 9:43 am.

Based on the airline's complaint, police booked the passenger under Sections 115(2) (voluntarily causing assault) and 324(5) (mischief causing loss or damage to the amount of one lakh rupees upwards) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

The passenger, identified as a postgraduate student from Kishanganj in Bihar, lodged a counter-complaint against the airline staff after being handed over to the police along with his mother. He alleged that the cabin crew reacted rudely when he asked about a four-minute delay in the flight's schedule.

The passenger claimed that when he began recording the behaviour of the airline staff on his mobile phone, he was asked to deboard, assaulted with a glass object, and forcibly removed, causing distress to him and his ailing mother. Following his complaint, police registered a case against the airline staff under BNS Sections 118(1) (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 126 (wrongful restraint), and 351(3) (criminal intimidation).

RGI Outpost Inspector B. Kiran Kumar noted that the passenger was upset over having been denied boarding on another flight a few days prior due to arriving 10 minutes late. Notices will be issued to the accused in both cases as investigations continue.