Unruly passenger offloaded at airport

An Indian national travelling on board an Oman Airways Flight WY-204 to Muscat was offloaded at the Mumbai airport for misbehaving minutes before the flight was set to take off. The ensuing drama on board the aircraft resulted in the flight getting delayed by two hours Thursday evening.

Sources from the airport said the passenger refused to wear a seat belt and got into a heated argument with the cabin crew.

An Oman Airways official said, “The passenger, Madhusudan Patro, refused to wear the seat belt. He started creating a ruckus as soon as he boarded the aircraft. After some time it became difficult for the crew to handle the passenger and so they decided to off load him. He was off loaded with the help of airline security personnel.”

Airline sources said a crew member had asked the passenger to wear the seat belt as the aircraft prepared to take off. However, Patro kept on insisting that he was more comfortable without the belt and did not want it and despite several requests from the crew, the passenger turned aggressive, a source said.

A source from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) said the passenger had became violent and so the CISF was called to control him. Wearing a seat belt is mandatory for all flight passengers.

An official from the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) said, “As per our air safety rules, seat belts are mandatory for every one during take off, landing and if there is any turbulence in air. Avoiding these rules could cause a tragedy and harm the person who is not wearing the belt.”