Unruly passengers, drunkards and smokers delayed 12 flights in 2022

The police manning the Mumbai airports and their vicinity come across the most hilarious and some serious instances of security breach and violations Around 12 flights raised security alerts and got delayed due to drunkards smokers and unruly passengers in 2022The police said four FIRs were registered for smoking inside flight toilets five cases have been registered against drunkards Some mentally ill passengers were arrested as they were too scared to sit during take off and landing and one was booked for trying to open the emergency exit gateThe domestic and international airports of Mumbai fall in the jurisdiction of the Airport and Sahar police stations respectively According to the police offenders are brought to the police stations by the airport security after being handed over by the airline staff and are usually booked under the Aircraft ActldquoLast year four people including a Russian National were arrested for smoking inside planes Chain smokers are a major menace They cannot control their addiction and are usually caught by the airport staff for smoking inside the toiletsrdquo an officer from Sahar police station said Smoking inside the flight is prohibited all over the world Many passengers also throw ash into the toilet This can lead to firesAlso Read Man held for smoking on LondonMumbai AI flightAccording to the police the other major menace is drunkards While these could be passengers there have been instances of drunk people from hutment areas adjoining the airport boundary wall causing troubleldquoA drunk man arrested from the adjoining area claimed that he wanted to fly a plane and was heading towards one In another incident a drunk man came onto the runaway with the national flag in his hand as he wanted to clear flights How do we deal with this nuisancerdquo the officer addedDCP Dixit Gedam of Zone 8 said ldquoOur officers take action against the accused and also make arrests Airports also have their own security of CISF jawans with CCTV surveillance cameras We also register FIRs against the offendersrdquoHowever a police source said ldquoThere are bailable offences under IPC 336 and Aircraft Act We cant even arrest offenders in such cases We only give Section 41A of CRPC to present for the investigation when called When they arrive for the investigation we arrest them and produce them in court and they get bail on the spot The bail amount is minimum Rs 25000rdquoSpeaking to midday Indigo Airlines spokesperson C Leekha said ldquoTo avoid such incidents before the flight takes off we make the announcements in the airplane We inform passengers in different languages not to open the emergency exit door not to smoke inside the plane and wear the seat belt during takeoff and landing But airhostess and cabin crew are trained to deal with situations regarding unruly passengersrdquoPlane crazy or what you willFebruary 19 2022 Devanand Omprakash Gautam 22 a resident of UP came to Mumbai on a trip He entered the airport from gate number 27 CISF jawans caught him Gautam revealed he entered the airport to see the planes ldquoMany flights got delayed due to thisrdquo an official said Gautam was arrested and later released on bail after police confirmed he didnrsquot have any dangerous intentionsMarch 11 2022 Shankar Tulsiram Shinge a resident of Vile Parle who was drunk climbed the safety wall and entered the airport premises When the CISF and a police team rushed to catch him he started climbing the safety wall to get out but got stuck and was caught The police found he was drunk and wanted to fly a plane Shinge was arrested under Sections IPC 447 448 the Maharashtra Police Act 120 and Aircraft Act 90 161February 20 2022 A 27yearold passenger Salman Nadeem Khan was booked by the Airport police after he claimed to be scared and kept standing when the flight he was on was to land The incident took place on flight number 6E5324 a Goa to Mumbai flight The police said he also tried to take his bag into the toilet but was stopped as this is not allowed He then requested another seat but was refused one as the flight was full The cabin crew informed the pilot when Khan kept standing as the plane was going to land The pilot avoided landing twice when Khan kept standing Other passengers then held Khan on a seat and after the flight landed he was handed over to the police The airport police booked him under Section IPC 336 MaharashtraPolice Act 110 and Aircraft Act 22 29 161January 21 2023 A passenger Jayraj Selvaraj was booked by the airport police after he started a fight onboard with a copassenger He was warned by the cabin crew They then informed the pilot who asked him to follow the rules Before landing Selvaraj started beating up the passenger whom he had been fighting with Other passengers helped the cabin crew pacify him and after the flight landed he was handed over to the cops The airport police booked him under IPC sections IPC 188 and the Aircraft Act 22 23March 3 2023 A 34yearold Russian National Elina Berlin was booked by Sahar police for smoking inside the toilet in flight Cabin Crew also found an ecigarette with her The Sahar police registered an FIR under IPC and Aircraft Act 25