The cabin crew alerted the pilot, and the passenger was offloaded for being unruly. Hyderabad airport police have charged him with endangering human life and causing a public nuisance
Published Mar 18, 2025 | 6:51 PM ⚊ Updated Mar 18, 2025 | 6:51 PM
Passenger removed from IndiGo flight for tampering with emergency exit door panel (Creative Commons)
Synopsis: A 26-year-old passenger, Saurabh Kumar Kumar, was removed from an IndiGo flight at Hyderabad airport on 16 March for attempting to tamper with the emergency exit door panel. Driven by curiosity, Kumar, a Business Management student from Bihar, was deemed an unruly passenger. The cabin crew alerted the pilot, and he was offloaded before the flight to Varanasi could take off
A 26-year-old passenger was offloaded from an IndiGo flight at Hyderabad airport on Sunday, 16 March, after he attempted to remove the emergency exit door panel cover.
The passenger, identified as Saurabh Kumar Kumar, hails from Bihar and is a Business Management student at a prominent institute in Hyderabad.
Kumar was reportedly driven by curiosity when he tried to tamper with the emergency exit door panel. The flight, bound for Varanasi, was about to take off when the incident occurred.
The cabin crew promptly alerted the Pilot in Command, who classified him as an unruly passenger. The decision was made to offload him before the flight could proceed.
Hyderabad airport police have booked Kumar for endangering human life and causing a public nuisance.
During questioning, he admitted that his actions were motivated purely by curiosity, with no malicious intent. Authorities are continuing their investigation into the incident.
On 10 December 2022, Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya accidentally opened the emergency exit on IndiGo flight 6E 7339, causing a delay of over two hours.
Surya, traveling to Trichy with Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai, caused the delay when he opened the door during the boarding process. Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia later explained it was a mistake.
The flight, scheduled to depart at 10:05 am, was delayed by 2 hours and 42 minutes. IndiGo officially acknowledged the violation a month later, stating that Surya apologised immediately and that the aircraft underwent mandatory engineering checks per SOPs.
On 7 April 2023, a passenger aboard a Delhi-Bengaluru IndiGo flight was detained at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) after attempting to open the emergency exit flap. The flight, 6E 398, was in the air when 30-year-old R Pratheek, reportedly intoxicated, tried to tamper with the flap.
The door remained secure, as it was pressure-locked, preventing any security breach. Pratheek hailed from Nawabganj in Uttar Pradesh.
(Edited by Ananya Rao with inputs from Sumit Jha)
