BENGALURU: A Bengaluru-Surat Air India flight was delayed by nearly two hours on Tuesday after a passenger—a 36-year-old woman—allegedly created a mid-air scare, threatening to crash the plane if the cabin crew did not store her bag near the crew area.
The passenger, identified as Dr. Vyas Hiral Mohanbhai, an Ayurvedic practitioner from Shivanahalli near Yelahanka, was arrested after she was offloaded from Flight IX2749. She was reportedly traveling alone with two pieces of baggage.
According to authorities, the incident began when Dr. Mohanbhai bypassed the check-in counter and insisted on carrying both bags onto the flight. After boarding, she placed one of the bags near the crew cabin and took the other to her assigned seat, 20F.
When flight attendants instructed her to place the bag in the overhead compartment near her seat, she refused and demanded the crew keep it with them. Despite multiple requests from both the crew and the flight captain, she refused to comply and allegedly began verbally abusing staff members.
Passengers seated nearby also attempted to calm her down, but she reportedly shouted at them as well. The situation escalated further when she allegedly threatened to crash the plane if her bag was moved from the crew area.
Alarmed by the threat and the disruption, the captain alerted airport security. CISF personnel boarded the aircraft and escorted her off. The incident delayed the flight from 2:45 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., according to a complaint filed by Agnimitra Bahinipati, associate manager of security at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA).
The trouble didn’t end with her removal from the flight. Once at the KIA police station, Mohanbhai reportedly continued to use abusive language and physically resisted officers. “This was the first time we heard such language in our station,” a senior police official said.
Her husband, who works at an educational institution in Bengaluru and is originally from Odisha, later appeared at the station. He informed police that Mohanbhai had stopped practising medicine and was on her way to Gujarat to visit family. He also revealed that she had caused public disturbances in the past.
Authorities are now examining her background for any prior incidents. An investigation is underway.
