Dubai-Kozhikode flight lands in Mumbai after ruckus by passenger

An IndiGo flight from Dubai to Kozhikode made an emergency landing at the Mumbai airport on Thursday following alleged unruly behaviour of a passenger, who was offloaded along with his brother travelling in the same flight.

Islamil (24) from Kannur in Kerala, offloaded along with his elder brother, is said to be “mentally disturbed” and the airport officials are verifying his “medical report” and other personal details, police said. 

“An IndiGo flight from Dubai to Kozhikode made an emergency landing at Mumbai airport at 09:15 hrs due to unruly behaviour of a passenger. After offloading them, the flight took off to its scheduled destination at 10:50 hrs,” a Mumbai airport official said. He said the passenger did not raise any pro-ISIS slogans, as suggested by some reports. 

In a statement, IndiGo airlines said its Dubai- Kozhikode flight was diverted to Mumbai this morning on grounds of unruly behaviour by a passenger on board.

A little before landing, a passenger seated on 5D (who was accompanied by his brother) suddenly started misbehaving with the crew. He jumped on the forward cart (which is used for food and onboard merchandise) and sat on it. The crew immediately informed the Captain-in-command and the lead crew.

The crew politely requested the passenger to step down from the cart and he obliged. After stepping down from the cart, the passenger suddenly got violent and started physically abusing the co-passenger, IndiGo said.

Taking precautionary measure, the Captain immediately informed the Air Traffic control (ATC) and the ground security staff about the situation onboard. The flight made the precautionary landing at the Mumbai airport where the passenger concerned was handed over to the CISF for further investigations. The matter is now with the local authorities, the airline further said.

According to police, Ismail and his brother are working in a super mall in Dubai. Ismail was being taken home since he has been showing signs of mental disturbance since the past few days, a senior police official said.

The official discounted the chances of a police case being registered against the passenger.