Surat: In a shocking incident reported onboard a Bengaluru-Surat Air India flight, a 36-year-old doctor allegedly threatened to crash the plane, after a tiff with the cabin crew. The tiff reportedly began after a cabin crew member discouraged the women passenger from placing her luggage in a restricted area, near the crew cabin.
Flight delayed
The verbal threat caused a security scare on the plane and also caused a delay of 2 hours. The doctor has been identified as Vyas Hiral Mohanbhai, who is a resident of Shivanahalli near Yelahanka. She was travelling alone, onboard flight AI-IX2749, said a report in the Times of India.
The passenger was carrying 2 piece of luggage. The police said that at the check-in counter the doctor insisted on carrying both the bags as hand luggage onboard the aircraft, despite the rules permitting just 1 bag per person. After boarding however, the Ayurvedic doctor left one of the luggage she was carrying near the crew cabin, while taking the other to her assigned seat, 20F. This escalated the situation onboard.
Doctor deboarded after argument with crew
As she walked to her seat, the cabin crew requested her to keep her luggage in the overhead cabin near her seat. Vyas however insisted that the crew keep her luggage with them. Despite repeated requests, she continued to argue with the crew members, even abusing them.
A while later fellow passengers intervened trying to reason with her to keep the luggage at the designated spot. But the doctor even shouted at them. At one point during the argument, she reportedly threatened to crash the flight if the crew moved her baggage.
As the situation escalated and the captain was convinced that this might be a security scare, he alerted the CISF. They soon came and offloaded the woman doctor. Following this, a complaint was filed by Agnimitra Bahinipati, associate manager of security at KIA. According to the complainant, the incident was reported between 2:45 pm to 5:30 pm.
According to the police, Mohanbhai did not just stop abusing and arguing with the cabin crew. Once she was taken to the police station, she also abused police officials. One of the officers quoted by TOI said, “This was the first time we have heard such abusive language in the station.”
The woman’s husband appeared before the police. He told them that his wife had stopped practicising medicine a while back and was on way to visit her family in Gujarat. He also said that she had previously created disturbances in public places. Police are verifying her background and the previous incidents she was involved in.
