SpiceJet spokesperson said the matter was thoroughly investigated in January 2022 after the video was brought to their notice and the person concerned was put on no-flying list for 15 days in February.
Civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. ANI
New Delhi: Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Thursday ordered a probe after a video showing bodybuilder Bobby Kataria smoking on a SpiceJet flight surfaced on social media, even as SpiceJet said the matter was thoroughly investigated in January 2022 after the video was brought into their notice.
The video shows Kataria – who has 6.3 lakh followers on Instagram – lighting a cigarette on one of the middle rows of a SpiceJet plane.
Passengers are not allowed to take lighter in the plane. Passengers are also not allowed to smoke in the plane.
According to sources, the smoking incident took place on a SpiceJet’s SG706 flight that was coming from Dubai to Delhi.
When the video of this incident was posted on Twitter on Thursday, Scindia responded: “Investigating it. There will be no tolerance towards such hazardous behaviour.”
Reacting to the development, SpiceJet spokesperson the matter was thoroughly investigated in January 2022 and a complaint had been filed at Udyog Vihar Police Station in Gurugram.
“This is with reference to a video on social media of a pax smoking onboard a SpiceJet aircraft. The matter had been investigated thoroughly in January 2022 when video was brought to our notice and a complaint had been filed by the airline with Udyog Vihar Police Station in Gurugram,” said SpiceJet spokesperson.
SpiceJet spokesperson said none of the passengers or crew was aware of the act and the matter came to the airline’s notice on 24 January, 2022 through social media posts.
“The matter was referred to Internal Committee constituted as per provisions of Civil Aviation Requirements on handling of unruly passengers (not consisting of any SpiceJet employee). The said pax was put on a no-flying list by the airline for 15 days in February 2022,” added the spokesperson.
As per the regulations of aviation regulator DGCA, an airline has the power to ban an “unruly” passenger for a certain period of time if he or she violates any rules.
With inputs from agencies
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