Accused in IndiGo pilot's assault 'totally apologetic'

Days after an IndiGo co-pilot was hit by a passenger inside a Goa-bound flight over the issue of delay, the police questioned the accused again and took statements of his wife and other passengers to ascertain the sequence of incident, officials said on Wednesday.

The accused, Sahil Kataria, was arrested by the police on Monday but later got bail.

A police officer said Kataria was called on Tuesday for questioning to know the sequence of the incident.

"Kataria was totally apologetic. But he said that the other passengers were also very agitated due to the 10-hour delay," the officer, who is privy to the investigations, said.

"The statements of his wife, other passengers and crew members have also been taken," the officer said.

As per the FIR registered on the complaint of co-pilot Anup Kumar, Kataria punched the left side of his face due to which his specs broke down and fell on the ground.

"...the passenger boarding was completed at 2 pm and the flight was ready for departure. But a few passengers were not ready to settle down. Crew members requested us to come out of the cockpit and address the passenger," the FIR said.

It further stated that while Kumar was addressing the passengers, Kataria came running towards him and punched him on the left side of his face.

"Due to this my specs broke down and fell on the ground. This incident happened in front of the passengers on board. It happened after the door closure," it said.

The incident took place on Sunday afternoon at the gallery of the aircraft 6E 2175.

It happened on a day when dense fog impacted operations at the Delhi airport leading to many flights being diverted, cancelled or delayed.

A purported video of the incident surfaced on social media and showed Kataria hitting the co-pilot as he was making the announcement inside the aircraft.

In the short video clip, other crew members could be seen shouting at him after he hit the pilot. In another video clip, Kataria was seen being taken out of the aircraft by security personnel even as he apologised for his conduct.

A case under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 290 (creating public nuisance) of the IPC and Section 22 of the Aircraft Rules was registered against Kataria.

He was also put on the no-fly list by the airlines.