There was panic aboard an Air India flight from Mumbai to the United States (U.S.) as a business class passenger, believed to be in his 70s, went on the rampage.
From crew members to passengers, he fought everybody, tried to force the doors open and strangle his wife.
He was forcefully restrained and had to be sedated for calm to return during the flight.
This happened on May 17.
The business class passenger, described by a witness as being in his 70s, apparently suffered a panic attack three hours into the flight and subsequently began to scream, yell and curse, Times of India reported.
The man swung between calm and violence in an episode that lasted more than seven hours, much to the discomfort of crew and other passengers.
Efforts to calm him down were of little success and it ultimately took a doctor to sedate him before he settled down.
During his rage-filled episode, the unnamed flyer verbally abused the crew, screamed for the aircraft door to be opened so he could disembark and tried to strangle his wife.
Witness Pravin Tonsekar, who was also flying business class on the same flight, told Times of India that the man tried to strangle his wife on three occasions and had to be physically restrained.
“He was about 6 ft tall, probably in his seventies, and he appeared to be physically fit. Then, all of a sudden, he started to scream, yell and shout in panic, saying he wanted to disembark,” Tonsekar recalled.
“He was screaming for the aircraft door to be opened so that he could leave. He kept on screaming, ‘Stop, open the door’ and then when that didn’t work, he started hurling verbal abuses at the crew.”
*Culled from Times of India.
