NEW DELHI: “Rinse my lunch box.” A major fight broke out on board an Air India aircraft at Bengaluru airport on Monday morning when the captain reportedly asked the flight purser to do so. The cabin crew member on AI 772, that was preparing for take off to Kolkata with boarding completed, took offence and then the two almost came to blows in full view of passengers. When informed of the situation by other crew on board, the airline immediately grounded both of them and the flight operated with a delay of two hours after calling in another captain and purser.
This fight, which now both Air India and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) are probing, happened when AI’s Airbus A320 was going to operate on Bengaluru-Kolkata route. “The pilot got food from home and asked the senior crew member to heat it. After finishing his meal, the pilot told this crew member to rinse the container. He objected to being asked to do so after which there was an altercation but perhaps no fist fight,” said a senior aviation official probing this case.
