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A video of passengers arguing for a reclining seat on a flight went viral on Wednesday, sparking a formal airline apology the next day.
The video shows a male passenger arguing verbally with more and more men. Although a female crew member tries to calm the agitated group, she backs off as soon as the men become physically aggressive. As the passengers look on, the lone man tries to defend himself against the onslaught of the group of men around him.
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The Bangkok-Kolkata flight took place on Tuesday, with the clip of the incident uploaded by Saurab Sinha On Wednesday. As of this writing, the video has over 3 million views and 6,200 likes.
Shortly after the video went viral, Thai Smile Airways apologized via their Indian Twitter account @THAISmileIndia.
The Indian Bureau of Civil Aviation Security and the General Directorate of Civil Aviation both requested details from Smile Airways regarding the dispute, but the nature of the foreign airline and the country of registration, Thailand, posed a jurisdictional issue.
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The altercation came after the lone male passenger in seat 37C refused to raise his seat according to crew safety instructions as the plane prepared for takeoff, the Times of India reports. Although crew members warned that the man’s actions would be reported to the pilot, the passenger reportedly justified his refusal with back pain and goaded the flight crew by saying, “Okay, say it [the pilot]. I’m not afraid.” The passengers in seats 38A, B and C confronted the man about his behavior, which resulted in a physical fight.
As a result, the flight was delayed but “continued as usual” after affected passengers calmed down, the airline reports. However, the passengers remained under surveillance, and passenger 37C was denied alcohol.
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The passengers in 37A and B were given an opportunity to change seats, but they declined. According to the airline, no one was injured.
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