In a high-voltage drama that pressed panic button among the air flyers aboard IndiGo flight (6E-2205) from Raipur to Delhi on Friday, an unruly individual attempted to open the emergency exit door, when the plane was almost about to take-off from Swami Vivekananda Airport (SVA) here in State Capital. The alarming act prompted swift action from crew members, who overpowered the rogue passenger and averted a major tragedy. The whole episode, however, delayed the scheduled take-off of the flight while the passengers were also put into a tense situation. “The flyer, Aalok Sundrani, was seated in seat 18B on the Indigo flight 6E-2205. Barely a few moments before the plane was to go air-borne, he allegedly attempted to open the over-wing exit starboard side flap located on the aircraft’s right wing. Thankfully, the alert crew members onboard the flight saw Sundrani fiddling with the emergency door handle, which even panicked the other passengers on the plane,” knowledgeable sources in Airports Authority of India (AAI) manning the operations at SVA told The Hitavada.

 

Sources further informed that the incident took place, when the crew members were delivering and demonstrating a pre-flight safety briefing, a detailed explanation given before take-off to airline passengers about the safety features of the aircraft they are aboard. However, during the middle of this briefing, the alleged passenger stood up from his seat and attempted to open the emergency exit. “The passenger’s identity could be ascertained from his Aadhar Card, which affirmed that Aalok Sundrani, son of Prem Chand Sundrani, is a resident of Ward-12, near Satyanarayan Temple in Nawapara-Rajim, Gobra Nawapara in Raipur district,” they added. “A passenger travelling on flight 6E-2205 from Raipur to Delhi, tried opening the flap of the emergency exit. As per Standard Operating Procedure, the passenger was declared unruly and handed over to the local authorities on arrival. The safety of the flight was not compromised at any stage and we regret any inconvenience caused to other passengers,” IndiGo said in a statement. Sources, in the IndiGo airlines, also averred that the Pilot-inCommand (PiC) looking into the gravity of the incident declared the passenger as unruly and handed over to the local police.

 

All security procedures were followed, the sources said and further revealed that a senior official of the airlines, Deepika Deen, Assistant Manager (Security) also furnished a detailed report about the incident to Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and as well as other stakeholders of SVA. Meanwhile, unconfirmed sources also hinted that the low-cost airline IndiGo has asked an internal committee to put the unruly passenger on “no fly list”. The airline has reportedly also formed an internal committee to address the incident and the matter has been referred to the committee. However, when this newspaper tried to contact Raipur Airport Director Dr S D Sharma, he denied giving any comments about the incident and straightaway asked to approach the airline’s officials.