Fight onboard Thai Smile Bangkok-Kolkata flight started over passenger reclining seat

According to the report submitted by Thai Smile to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation on December 29, the cabin crew of the Airbus A320 plane asked the passenger on 37C to straighten his seat but the passenger refused saying he had a backache

Moneycontrol News

December 29, 2022 / 22:42 IST

The incident happened just before the Thai Smile Airways plane was taxiing to the runway for take-off, (Image credit: Screengrab from video tweeted by @YadavMu91727055)

The all-out fight that broke out on a Thai Smile Airways plane earlier this week started because the passenger seated on seat 37C reclined his seat when the plane was taxiing and refused to put his seat in the upright position, according to the incident report and witness form submitted by the airline.

According to the report submitted by Thai Smile to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on December 29, the cabin crew of the Airbus A320 plane asked the passenger on 37C to straighten his seat but the passenger refused, saying he had a backache.

"The crew tried explaining that the seat must be in upright position so as not to hinder the path of passengers seated behind him in case of an evacuation. Or to prevent those to take brace position if needed in an emergency,” the report read.

However, the passenger refused and said that he travels often and that he was not afraid even if the crew report him to the pilot.

Following the altercation between the cabin crew and the passenger, other passengers started objecting to the behaviour of the passenger in seat 37C and then started fighting.

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