Indigo passenger faces 2-year prison sentence for recording video of cabin crew

On Thursday last, three passengers flying Indigo Airlines flight 6E 326 from Kolkata to Mumbai, were handed over to the police for allegedly misbehaving with the cabin crew. Of these, one passenger was arrested by the police, for shooting videos of the cabin crew in flight on his mobile phone, and faces a prison sentence of up to two years, and/or a fine. was arrested under section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code

Representational image only, courtesy Business Today

The trio were from Bangladesh, and had driven from Dhaka to Kolkata before catching the Indigo flight to Mumbai. One of the other passengers on the flight noticed the video recording incident, and reported it to the cabin crew. The three individuals were warned, but apparently continued shooting the video.

This isn't the first time such an incident has taken place. In November last year, there was a case of two inebriated passengers taking pictures of cabin crew. Heck, there was even a creepy incident of pictures of the FA being taken on a Kolkata-Chennai flight that I was on, a couple of years back. And those are just with Indigo!

Indigo cabin interior - Pic courtesy VellVector (representational image only)

I don't know what it is that makes passengers behave this way. I don't want to sound like a douchebag out here, but I have a feeling that the crew's uniforms trigger these sort of reactions from passengers that aren't able to control themselves (or their libidos).

Incidents of unruly passenger behaviour are only on the rise. I can tell you tales of passengers on virtually every flight from India to DXB that I've been on, being reported for smoking in the lavatory. I've also seen more than a fair share of bad behaviour by drunk passengers. 

It is therefore only natural for crews to feel at risk. Thankfully, more often than not, other passengers are generally quite sensible, and are often able to work with and support the crew in controlling the deviants.

It is only recently, that the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), India's aviation regulator, has allowed airline crew to carry plastic handcuffs.