Passengers who fought on Thai Smile flight now face police complaint, says Aviation Minister Scindia

The ugly fight that broke out on the Thai Smile Airways flight from Bangkok to Kolkata has finally reached the notice of the authorities. After initially saying that the case is out of jurisdiction as it took place in Thailand, Indian aviation authorities have filed a complaint against those involved. 

• Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said in a tweet that a complaint has been filed against those involved in the slapping and boxing match on a flight. 

With regard to the scuffle between passengers on board a @ThaiSmileAirway flight, a police complaint has been filed against those involved. Such behaviour is unacceptable.

— Jyotiraditya M. Scindia (@JM_Scindia) December 29, 2022

• Thai Smile Airways has also submitted a report of flight disturbance to the Aviation Authority of India citing that a passenger seated in 37C (the man being beaten up in a dark blue shirt) refused to follow safety rules. 

#UPDATE | Thai Smile Airways has submitted the flight disturbance incident report of a fight on the flight on December 26 to the Indian Aviation Authority of India and said that passenger 37C refused to follow safety rules.

— ANI (@ANI) December 29, 2022

DailyMail reported Thai Smile Airways' statement: 

What happened? On December 26, a heated argument between two Indian men turned into a fistfight between several passengers on board a Thai Smile flight from Bangkok to Kolkata. 

• The incident reportedly took place before take-off and when the plane was taxiing to the runway. 
• Reportedly, the man in a blue shirt who was beaten up by a group of passengers was refusing to put his seat in an upright position according to safety rules for take-off. 
• The video of the fight has since gone viral on social media and shows the crew struggling to calm the situation. 

बैंकॉक-भारत के बीच उड़ान भरने वाली Thai Smile Airway की फ्लाइट में यात्रियों के बीच हुई भिड़ंत।

"फलाइट में फाइट"

यात्रियों के बीच मारपीट, वीडियो वायरल, विडियो कबका है उसकी पुष्टि नही हो पाई। pic.twitter.com/V1jAikIQS7

— Kaushik Kanthecha (@Kaushikdd) December 28, 2022

• Eventually, the passengers reportedly settled amicably and the flight took off after a slight delay.
• But what's perplexing is why Thai Smile allowed the fighting passengers to remain on board despite them posing a risk to the safety of other passengers. 
• The fight took place on an Airbus A320, a single aisle flight. In such a congested space, a fight between groups of passengers could have risked the lives of hundreds of others. 

Flight rage incidents seem to be on the rise. Just recently, a heated argument broke out between a passenger and a flight attendant on an IndiGo flight after the former referred to flight attendants as 'servants'.