Man removed from Indian plane after trying to enter cockpit to charge phone

A drunken passenger was removed from an IndiGo India flight on Monday (Sep 24) after he attempted to enter the cockpit to charge his phone.

According to a report in the Business Standard, the “unruly passenger” tried to enter the cockpit while the plane was preparing to depart Mumbai for Kolkata.

An IndiGo spokesperson said the man was “offloaded” from flight 6E-395 on the grounds of “security violation”.

The report added that the man, who was around 35 years old, was let off after he was questioned at a police station.

"He was drunk and wanted to charge his mobile phone. So he moved towards the cockpit. Police did not find any offence against him to charge a case," the official said.

Indian airlines have been in the news for all the wrong reasons this year.

In January, two Jet Airways pilots were grounded for getting into a brawl and storming out of the cockpit briefly during a New Year's Day flight from London to Mumbai.

On Sep 20, a cockpit mix-up left more than 30 passengers on a Jet Airways flight bleeding from their ears and noses after the crew forgot to flick a switch regulating cabin air pressure.

Five travellers who suffered bleeding were rushed to a Mumbai hospital. A doctor said they were suffering from mild deafness that would take about 10 days to recover.

On Sep 22, a first-time flier on a GoAir flight from New Delhi to Patna sparked panic in mid-air when he attempted to open a plane door, apparently mistaking it for the toilet.

A spokesperson for the airline added that the man would not have succeeded in opening the door anyway due to air pressure in the cabin.

India's aviation market has witnessed a six-fold increase in passenger numbers over the past decade as a growing middle class takes advantage of better connectivity and cheap flights, with many taking to the skies for the first time.