Man arrested for smoking 'beedi' on Akasa Air's Ahmedabad-Bengaluru flight
What's the story
A 56-year-old man was arrested after being caught smoking a beedi on an Akasa Air flight from Ahmedabad to Bengaluru. The passenger, identified as M Praveen Kumar, was reportedly a first-time flier and was said to be ignorant about the no-smoking rule on flights. According to India Today, he has been charged with endangering the lives of co-passengers by smoking beedi onboard the plane.
Context
Why does this story matter?
The incident comes at a time when the Indian aviation sector is already facing criticism owing to a series of onboard incidents involving unruly passengers and mid-air mishaps. Most recently, on Saturday, the Punjab Police arrested a man as he reportedly harassed a female crew member on IndiGo's Dubai-Amritsar flight. Several incidents involving inflight smoking and passenger misbehavior, too, have surfaced in recent months.
Details
First-time flier, unaware of rules: Accused tells Police
Kumar—a native of Marwar in Rajasthan's Pali—reportedly told cops he usually travels by train, where would smoke in washrooms. He did the same on the flight, unaware of the rules, per The Times of India. He is currently lodged in Bengaluru's Central Jail. The police allegedly criticized security officials at Ahmedabad airport, claiming the beedis should have been immediately detected during the security check.
Quote
Police investigating security lapse at Ahmedabad airport
A police official told TOI that failure to detect beedis during a security check was a "serious security lapse." "They get detected easily. The only explanation for such an incident is a failure," he stated. Recently, two persons were arrested for smoking on another plane.
Incident
Fellow passengers alerted crew about smoking incident
According to The Hindu, some passengers got the smoke smell on the Bengaluru-bound flight and notified the cabin crew, who spotted Kumar smoking beedi in the washroom. They turned him over to the authorities shortly after the plane landed at Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport. The police launched an investigation after receiving a complaint from Vijay Thulluru, Duty Manager, SNV Aviation Pvt. Ltd. (Akasa Air).
History
4th such incident this year
This is the fourth reported incident involving inflight smoking this year. In two separate instances in March, two women, from Assam and West Bengal, respectively, were arrested for smoking in the washroom mid-air. In the same month, an Indian-origin American national was caught smoking in the lavatory on Air India's London-Mumbai flight. He also misbehaved with co-passengers and tried to open the plane door.