Dubai A drunk passenger groped an Emirates air hostess when she reportedly tried to stop him from smoking in the aircraft.
The incident occurred aboard Emirates flight EK 522 from Dubai to Thiruvananthapuram on New Year’s Day, airport authorities in India told XPRESS.
The Russian passenger was handed over to police when the plane landed in Thiruvananthapuram. He was kept in detention and interrogated for about an hour before being released. He was travelling with his wife.
“The flight landed in Thiruvananthapuram at 3.45am on Tuesday. On receiving a complaint from the air hostess, we took the passenger for questioning. But the air hostess withdrew her complaint after the man apologised so we released him,” said a senior police officer at the airport.
Emirates confirmed the incident in a statement to XPRESS saying: “Emirates can confirm that a passenger on flight EK522 from Dubai to Thiruvananthapuram on January 1 was met by security on arrival at Thiruvananthapuram following an onboard incident. The airline cooperated fully to assist the local authorities with their investigation which is now closed.”
An Emirates ground staff at Thiruvananthapuram airport said the passenger got physical with the air hostess when she tried to stop him from smoking in the plane.
“The passenger was caught smoking in the toilet. When the air hostess objected, he reacted violently, said the ground staff who did not want to be quoted.
According to Indian police, the passenger was drunk. They said the altercation got worse because the man didn’t understand English.
“The man was drunk and he was in no mood to listen to the air hostess. We later came to know that he does not understand English. The chief pilot informed the airport police because the man was rude to the air hostess and behaved in a violent manner before he was pacified and brought back to his seat,” said the official.
