In a bizarre development, a passenger inside IndiGo Airline lost his calm and slapped a pilot announcing the delay in front of the entire crew including the air hostess. The IndiGo airline pilot slap video is spreading like wildfire on social media. However, netizens are divided over the IndiGo pilot assault video with some backing the man for pulling out a bizarre act. As per reports, the IndiGo flight was bound for Goa from New Delhi, however, it was delayed for more than 13 hours which prompted angry reactions from the passengers.
In the viral IndiGo pilot assault video, when the man was announcing another delay inside the flight, a passenger in a yellow hoodie sitting in the last row lost his calm. The passengers came running towards the pilot and slapped him on his face while two air hostesses were left stunned seeing the incident. While the air hostesses tried to keep the passenger away, the angry man was heard telling the pilot: 'Nahi chalana toh mat chala, bol de (If you don't want to fly the plane, then don't)'. To this, one of the air hostesses almost broke down and said, 'Sir aap aisa nahi kar sakte (sir, you cannot do this)'. Other passengers were shocked and agitated, a man in a blue hoodie can be seen trying to calm the man down at the end of the video.
Following that the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) DCP was quoted saying that the passenger had been detained after IndiGo Airlines filed a complaint against him. The DCP also assured to take appropriate legal action against the accused. Notably, flights across Northern India have been facing a massive disruption due to poor weather from dense fog conditions. On Sunday, the thick fog lasted for nearly 11 hours in the national capital, leaving thousands of passengers waiting for hours.
Reacting to the IndiGo pilot assault video, a user wrote, "What does the pilot or cabin crew have to do with the delay? They were just doing their job. Arrest this man, and put him on the no-fly list. Publish his picture so people are aware of his bad temper in public."
Another user wrote, "Both airlines and passenger are at fault here. X is full of complaints against Indigo where they are not communicating the delay and status correctly with passengers, taking them for a ride. On the other hand, no amount of frustration gives anyone a right to physically assault someone. That’s criminal."
One more user wrote, "He absolutely needs to be booked for assault and put on a no fly list for a couple of years. But this incident also draws attention to the serious shortcomings of this particular airline, that simply now cannot be ignored by the regulator, and the government. The top management doesn't seem inclined to take any corrective actions on its own, and must be taken to task."
On the other hand, TMC leader Saket Gokhale took to his official X handle and stated that IndiGo must be blamed and stated that he has written a letter to Civil Aviation Secretary. "Over the last 2 days specifically, I've been apprised of numerous passenger complaints against IndiGo over heavily delayed flights, lack of timely communication from the airline, and unprofessional behavior. What happened with IndiGo on 13th & 14th cannot be blamed solely on the fog in North India. There are horror tales of travellers from other parts of India who faced the same problems. An airline has all the right to grow & expand but not at the cost of passenger convenience especially when its airfares are no cheaper than full-service airlines.
"I've written to Secretary, Civil Aviation, asking for an URGENT enquiry to be conducted against IndiGo for the events of 13th & 14th Jan as well as their recent trend of being unable to manage operations on time and failure to communicate with passengers. IndiGo must be held accountable and this needs to be fixed."