Air India says passenger assaulted crew onboard Toronto-Delhi flight on Jul 8

New Delhi: A male passenger assaulted crew and some other passengers, and damaged the lavatory door onboard an Air India flight from Toronto to the national capital on July 8, the airline said on Wednesday.

The passenger, a Nepalese citizen, was handed over to security agencies on arrival at the airport here.

"A passenger on flight AI188 of 08 July 2023 operating Toronto-Delhi displayed unacceptable aggression during flight. He smoked in the lavatory, damaged the lavatory door and assaulted crew and passengers, leaving them with minor injuries," an Air India spokesperson said in a statement.

According to the spokesperson, the passenger was warned several times by the crew and finally had to be restrained on his seat.

On arrival, the passenger was handed over to the security agencies for further course of action as per regulatory requirement and the matter has been reported to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the spokesperson said.

In recent times, there have been rising incidents of unruly behaviour of passengers onboard flights.

On June 24, there was an incident of a male passenger behaving in a "repulsive manner" onboard an Air India flight from Mumbai to Delhi.