This story is from December 29, 2022

Seat reclined during taxiing phase of Bangkok-Kolkata flight leads to fight onboard

Indian authorities — both the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security and Directorate General of Civil Aviation — have sought details of the incident from Thai Smile. However since this issue happened on a foreign airline and on foreign soil, their jurisdiction is limited in this case. Thai Smile is learnt to have sent the report to Indian authorities on Thursday morning.
Seat reclined during taxiing phase of Bangkok-Kolkata flight leads to fight onboard
NEW DELHI: An argument over reclining seat led to a fight between passengers onboard Thai Smile Airlines Bangkok-Kolkata flight just after 12 am on December 27 (Thai time). A passenger seated on 37C reclined his seat when the Airbus A320 was taxiing at Bangkok Airport. The cabin crew asked him to put his seat in upright position as per rules but he “refused to” do that and refused to budge, says the airline’s “security (incident) report”.
“There were passengers seated on seats 38A, B & C.
When the crew asked him to straighten his seat during take off and landing, the person on 37C said he has backache. The crew tried explaining that the seat must be in upright position so as not to hinder the path of passengers seated behind him in case of an evacuation (an aviation safety rule globally followed). Or to prevent those to take take brace position if needed in an emergency,” Thai Smile report submitted to the Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Thursday says.

“I fly often, I know what to do,” he retorted. The crew then told the passenger that in case he does not follow safety rules, they will report to the pilot. “Ok, tell him. I am not scared,” he said.
At this point others passengers started objecting to this person’s behaviour. “This caused other passengers coming to talk to him (37C) and they start fighting. The crew and other passengers tried to stop the fighting. The captain was informed and he delayed take off. At last they stopped fighting and calmed down. Crew ensured they return to their seats. Then the flight continued as usual,” says the airline’s report. No one except 37C passenger (who was beaten) was injured.

During the flight, the crew kept the passengers who had the fight under watch and for 37C it was an additional “no alcohol serving”. “Passengers. On 37 A & B were offered a seat change which they declined. There was no more fighting (during the flight to Kolkata). 37C followed instructions and no one was seriously injured,” the report says.
Interestingly the crew of Thai Smile — which did not return the aircraft to the terminal at Bangkok after the fight to offload unruly passenger/s — saw two passengers take video of the fight. “After seat belt sign was off (post take off) asked for their cooperation and ensure they delete it,” the report says. Thai Smile is a full service airline with no business class but premium economy and economy sections. It doe snot have a country manager in India at the moment, that perhaps led to the delay in submitting a report to Indian authorities.
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