SpiceJet passenger 'offloaded' after misbehaviour with female crew member

In the video accessed by ANI, the flight crew and passengers are seen involved in a verbal spat after a male passenger allegedly behaved inappropriately with a female crew member.

"On January 23, 2023, SpiceJet wet-leased Corendon aircraft was scheduled to operate SG-8133 (Delhi - Hyderabad). During boarding at Delhi, one passenger behaved in an unruly and inappropriate manner, harassing and causing disturbance to the cabin crew," the airline released a statement.

"The crew informed the PIC and security staff of the same. The said passenger and a co-passenger, who were travelling together, were offloaded and handed over to the security team," the airline stated.

The crew alleged that the passenger had touched one of the crew members inappropriately. On the other hand, fellow passengers claimed that it was an accident due to the confined area on the flight.

The passenger later gave a written apology, but he was offloaded to avoid any further conflicts.

This comes after India's aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Jan 6 ordered that airline staff will face action if they fail to act against passengers who are unruly or behave inappropriately.

The direction was announced in the wake of widespread outrage over a passenger urinating on another on an Air India flight last year.

Restraining measures may be used on unruly passengers "when all conciliatory approaches have been exhausted", the DGCA had said, listing a number of such actions that flight crew need to take during such encounters.

"In the recent past, DGCA has noticed a few incidents of unruly behaviour and inappropriate conduct by the passengers on board the aircraft during flight, wherein it is observed that post holders, pilots and cabin crew members have failed to take appropriate actions," it had said.

The aviation regulator had said the pilot in command will be responsible for assessing a situation and relaying information to the airline's central control on the ground for further action.

"Upon landing of the aircraft, airline representative shall lodge FIR with the concerned security agency at aerodrome, to whom, the unruly passenger shall be handed over," it had said.