HYDERABAD: An intoxicated
passenger
with mental health problems created a flutter by allegedly trying to open the aircraft door
mid-air
just as the Indore-Hyderabad flight was about to touch down at the
Rajiv Gandhi International Airport
. The incident happened on May 21 but came to light on Friday.
Police
officials said that a disaster was averted as the crew and other passengers restrained the man from opening the door.
He was
arrested
by
RGI Airport police
after the plane landed.
His family members later approached officials, claiming that he was a psychiatric patient and produced supportive medical documents. A resident of Quthbullapur, he was given station bail on Friday.
The man reportedly misbehaved with a passenger by throwing chips and water at him after the plane took off from
Indore
. He was warned twice before he was issued a 'red warning card' for unruly and disruptive behaviour.
When the flight took off from Indore, the crew observed the man's abnormal behaviour and shifted his seat to a different location.
After some time, he insisted on sitting next to his two friends with whom he had travelled to Indore on pilgrimage. After the crew relented, he behaved normally for some time. Subsequently, he allegedly misbehaved with a passenger.
The crew and other passengers were horrified when he allegedly tried to open the
plane door
and forcefully made him sit in one of the seats. "Until the aircraft landed and came to a halt at airport, there was a lot of tension in the aircraft," one of the passengers said. "The man was moving in the aisle without reason when the aircraft was in the air despite being warned. When the pilot was getting ready to land, he went to open the door," RGIA inspector K Balaraju told
TOI
.
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