Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh): A passenger who was found smoking a cigarette in the lavatory of a Gorakhpur-bound Indigo flight was arrested on Thursday, officials said. Sources said the crew members rushed to the lavatory soon after the fire alarm rang indicating a fire inside the lavatory causing the entire flight to panic.
The passenger was asked to stub out his cigarette by the crew. The fire alarm was deactivated much to the relief of the passengers who thought their lives were at risk soon after the fire alarm rang. A case was registered against the passenger after the flight landed at Gorakhpur and he was subsequently arrested based on the complaint of the airline.
Gorakhpur City Superintendent of Police Krishna Kumar Vishnoi said that the Indigo flight where the incident was reported was flying from Mumbai. "This flight 6E- 544 flies from Mumbai daily. It lands at Gorakhpur at 6 pm," he said. The accused has been identified as Krishna Kumar Mishra, a resident of Maheshpur in Bihar's Gopalganj district.
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On questioning, the accused revealed that he was neither questioned nor checked while boarding the flight. He said he was able to board with the cigarette as well as a lighter on his person. When I got the urge to smoke, I went to the toilet and lit up his cigarette, the SP quoted the arrested as saying. He is presently being questioned. He will be produced before the court on Friday based on which the police will take action against him, the SP added.
This incident comes close on the heels of a 24-year-old woman being arrested for smoking in the lavatory of a Bengaluru-bound flight few weeks before. The conduct of passengers onboard aircraft has hit headlines ever since a man allegedly in an inebriated condition, urinated on his co-passenger, a senior citizen, in the business class of an Air India New York-Delhi flight. The airline regulator imposed a hefty fine on the Tata-owned airlines for not acting on the unruly passenger on an immediate basis. The crew was also suspended by the DGCA.
