Air India passenger tied to seat on flight for being unruly

New Delhi: An Indian passenger on Air India's Melbourne-Delhi flight on Wednesday reportedly got unruly after a few drinks, and in his inebriated state he allegedly tore the clothes of two flight pursers and tried to beat up and bite some fellow passengers.

According to reports the pilot then sent a message to the airline command centre in Delhi for permission to divert the plane to Singapore. However, in order to avoid delay, the crew instead decided to tie the passenger to his seat with any material that was available on board.

He was handed over to security agencies on arrival in Delhi.

This latest act of unruly passenger behaviour could strengthen some Indian airlines' long-standing demand to have plastic handcuffs on board.

Reports state that Indian carriers have witnessed scores of such acts either by inebriated passengers or other perfectly fine people who suddenly acted strange. While strict action is taken once such people are handed over to security agencies on ground, the critical issue is keeping them in check when the plane is in air.

Looking for material to tie down such passengers is not an easy task as most aircraft do not carry any such stuff.

A pilot was reported saying that crew of Indian airlines on international flights must have a limit to the number of drinks to be served to the passengers like in foreign airlines.