Thiruvananthapuram: Four of the six passengers on Air India Express’ Abu Dhabi-Kochi flight which was diverted to Thiruvananthapuram on Friday, who were asked to report for questioning, turned up before aviation officials in Kochi today (Sunday).
The controversy erupted after angry passengers engaged in a verbal duel with the pilot, Rupali, who sounded a hijack alarm and complained to officials about some passengers’ behaviour.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had suggested that no cases be filed against the passengers, but six passengers now have cases against them. The six were identified as Asharaf, Manoj, Rashid, Abdul Khadar, Augustine and Thomas. Four of them appeared in Kochi for questioning today by officials of the director general of civil aviation.
The six passengers were earlier quizzed on Friday when their flight finally landed in Kochi, after a nearly 10-hour delay in completing the Abu Dhabi-Kochi flight. Nearly 200 passengers in the flight including several small children had endured harassment before reaching home.
The incident on Friday, and the diversion of more Air India flights on Saturday, led to a wave of emotions in Kerala against the national carrier, with some leading newspapers carrying editorials against the harassment and poor service faced by passengers in the Gulf-Kerala sector who choose to fly the national carrier.
