Airline, passenger in claim, counter-claim over misbehaviour

A Mumbai-bound passenger is being probed for alleged unruly behaviour on board a private airline -- a claim which she too made against its crew -- in probably the first such case after the no-fly rules came into effect.
Official sources said the IndiGo airlines team at the airport informed CISF security personnel about an incident onboard its Jaipur-Mumbai flight last evening.
The airline crew, the sources said, said that a passenger identified as R Thakur "misbehaved" and displayed "aggressive" behaviour with them on board.
IndiGo sources confirmed the incident but did not comment on whether they will ban the passenger from flying with the airline.

Soon after the flight landed at Mumbai, the woman was taken by CISF personnel and the crew to the airport police, which booked her for a non-cognisable offence.
The woman, meanhwile, has filed a counter-case against a member of the airline crew, sources said.

The police is investigating the case, they added.
As per the rules unveiled last week, a passenger who displays disruptive behaviour onboard a plane, even when it is is on the ground, can face a flying ban ranging from three months to a lifetime.
Such passengers will also be included in a no-fly list compiled by the aviation regulatory body DGCA.

According to the revised Civil Aviation Requirement of the aviation regulatory body DGCA, after an airline receives a complaint about an unruly passenger it has to constitute a committee to decide the severity of the offence and rule on the duration of the ban.
This panel will have to give its decision within 30 days, failing which the passenger is free to fly.
Until the committee gives its decision the airline may ban the traveller from flying for no more than 30 days.
As per the rules, a passenger can be banned from flying for a period of three months, six months and two years or more without limit.

The duration of the ban will depend on the severity of misdemeanour, which has been divided into three categories - verbal assault, physical fight or sexual assault and life threatening behaviour.