Indian-Origin Man Caught Smoking, Trying To Open Door In Air India London-Mumbai Flight

A 37-year-old US citizen has been booked for allegedly smoking in the bathroom and misbehaving with other passengers on Air India London-Mumbai flight on March 11, police said.

The accused, identified as Ramakant, tried to open the door of the flight and had also said that he was carrying a bullet in his bag, the flight crew said. Mumbai Police, however, said that no such object was found in his bag. According to the investigation, the accused is a US citizen who originally hails from India.

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What happened

"Smoking is not allowed on the flight but as he went to the bathroom the alarm started to ring and when the crew ran towards the bathroom, we saw a cigarette in his hand. We immediately threw the cigarette from his hand," the crew member of Air India told the Sahar Police.

"Then Ramakant started shouting at all our crew members. Somehow we took him to his seat. But after some time he tried to open the door of the aircraft. All the passengers got scared because of his behavior. Then we tied his hands and legs and made him sit on the seat," the crew member added.

The accused passenger didn't stop even then and started banging his head. "One person among the passenger was a doctor. He came and checked him. Then Ramakant said that he has some medicine in his bag we didn't find any but an e-cigarette was recovered while checking the bag," the police added.

Ramakant has been booked by Mumbai's Sahar Police Station for causing inconvenience mid-flight. After the flight landed, the passenger Ramkant was handed over to the Sahar police.

Case registered by Mumbai Police

According to the Mumbai Police, a case has been registered under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 336 (whoever does any act so rashly or negligently as to endanger human life or the personal safety of others) and Aircraft Act 1937, 22 (refuse to follow a lawful instruction given by the Pilot-in-Command), 23 (Assault and other acts endangering safety or jeopardizing good order and discipline) and 25 (for smoking).

An Air India spokesperson later issued a statement and said, ¡°A passenger on flight AI130 from London-Mumbai was found smoking in lavatory & behaved in unruly & aggressive manner despite repeated warnings. He was handed over to the security personnel upon the flight¡¯s arrival in Mumbai. The regulator has been duly informed of the incident."

They have also collected his samples for examination to confirm if he was in an inebriated condition or is mentally disturbed.

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Days after similar incident was reported

This incident comes days after a 24-year-old woman was arrested on arrival in Bengaluru after she was allegedly caught smoking in the toilet of an IndiGo flight from Kolkata.

According to a police complaint, the cabin crew suspected that Priyanka C, who was travelling on seat no 17F, was smoking mid-flight and asked her to open the toilet door. Upon inspection, the crew found a cigarette in the dustbin and put it out with water.

After landing at Kempegowda International Airport, the passenger was reportedly handed over to security officials and later taken to the airport police.

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