London-bound Air India flight turns back to Delhi after passenger ‘hits cabin crew member’

A passenger reportedly caused “physical harm” to two cabin crew members on a London-bound Air India flight on Monday, forcing the captains to return to New Delhi and hand over the man to the police. The Air India flight AI111 – scheduled to leave for London’s Heathrow Airport from New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi international airport – returned to terminal three (T3) in Delhi after the passenger started behaving in an unruly manner within 15 minutes of takeoff, it was reported. The passenger reportedly hit a cabin crew member and pulled their hair, according to the Hindustan Times. Air India said that the London-bound flight returned to Delhi “shortly after departure due to the serious unruly behaviour of a passenger on board”. It added that the passenger did not heed the “verbal and written warnings” and instead “continued with unruly behaviour including causing physical harm to two of the cabin crew members”. The pilot in command decided to return to Delhi and the passenger was handed over to the security personnel upon landing, the statement said. The flight initially took off from New Delhi at 6.35am and reports said that the passenger started creating trouble within 15 minutes of take off. A police complaint has been filed against the man, whose identity was not revealed by the authorities. “Safety, security and dignity of all on board is important to us at Air India,” the carrier said.<br/>