Mid-air scare on Indian flight

Passengers sit in the cabin of an IndiGo Airlines aircraft.

Passengers sit in the cabin of an IndiGo Airlines aircraft.

Published Nov 8, 2012

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New Delhi -

A man caused a mid-air scare on an Indian flight when he threatened to bring the plane down and assaulted a flight attendant, officials and news reports said on Thursday.

The incident occurred on Wednesday night on an IndiGo flight between Mumbai and New Delhi when the man, identified as Mursalin Shaikh, abused female passengers and shouted “Allahu Akhbar,” or “God is great,” witnesses told broadcaster NDTV.

A flight attendant asked him to calm down and he slapped her, passenger Palak Singh said. Shaikh also held a mobile phone pretending it was a detonator and threatened to blow up the plane, Singh said.

Shaikh later tried to make a dash for the cockpit but the aisle was blocked with a food trolley and he was pinned down by crew members and passengers, she said.

The aircraft landed at New Delhi, where security forces arrested him, IndiGo said.

Relatives of Shaikh, a car salesman from Mumbai, said he is a schizophrenic. - Sapa-dpa

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