The incident took place in the last week of December 2022.
The group of passengers who fought on a Thai Smile flight between Bangkok and Kolkata are possibly staring at a no-fly list, according to latest reports. A video circulating online showed a group of flyers involved in a physical fight with another traveler as the flight attendants tried to calm the situation. Indian authorities are now looking to take appropriate action.
What happened?
In an online video that surfaced last week, a group of passengers can be seen arguing and physically assaulting another traveler on a Thai Smile flight. While the reason for the fight was not immediately clear, the incident report accessed by NDTV sheds light on what happened.
According to the report, the incident took place on December 26th when the cabin crew was asking passengers to adjust their seats to an upright position for takeoff. One of the passengers declined to do so, saying he had back pain.
When the said passenger refused to adjust his seat despite repeated requests, he was warned that he could be reported to the captain. The passenger still did not comply and was ok with the matter being escalated to the flight commander.
As the situation unfolded, other travelers on the flight began complaining, and one of them was seen arguing with the passenger in question. The video doing the rounds on social media shows that the verbal argument eventually escalated to a full-blown physical fight, with a group of men hitting the lone passenger, who did not hit back.
All this happened while the plane was still on the ground in Bangkok, and the flight was eventually delayed. The passengers involved in the incident were, however, allowed to fly back.
Photo: Shutterstock
No-fly list being considered
Indian authorities are now considering putting the passengers involved in the fight on a no-fly list. A top official of the Indian aviation authority told the news agency ANI,
“We are in touch with the local police and we are waiting for the police investigation report after which we can take a decision or recommend them to put on the fly list.”
The Economic Times reports that a case against the passengers in question has been registered with Kolkata Airport police, which is in touch with the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Zulfiquar Hasan, DG of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), said,
“The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has sought a detailed report from the concerned authority. The matter has been viewed seriously. We will decide on the further course of action once we are in receipt of the report.”
Photo: Shutterstock
The Indian government came up with the National No Fly List in 2017, which takes inputs from airlines and is maintained by the Indian regulator, the DGCA. It remains to be seen whether the passengers involved in the Thai Smile incident will find their names on it on not.
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Source: NDTV, The Economic Times
