Video: Bodybuilder brazenly smokes inside SpiceJet flight; triggers outrage

New Delhi: A  video of a bodybuilder smoking on a SpiceJet flight has shocked the nation.

In the video, Bobby Kataria, who has 6.3 lakh followers on Instagram, can be seen lighting a cigarette on one of the back rows of a SpiceJet plane.

Seemingly angry, Civil  Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia ordered an investigation after a video went viral.

SpiceJet said that the smoking incident took place on its Dubai-Delhi flight on January 20 when passengers were boarding the plane and the cabin crew members were busy completing the onboarding procedure.

After investigation, the airline had put the passenger on the “no flying list” for 15 days in February, it mentioned.

As per the regulations of aviation regulator DGCA, an airline has the power to ban an “unruly” passenger for a certain period if he or she violates any rules.

When the video of this incident was posted on Twitter on Thursday, Scindia responded: “Investigating it. There will be no tolerance towards such hazardous behavior.”

In a statement, SpiceJet said: “This is concerning a video on social media of a passenger smoking onboard a SpiceJet aircraft. The matter had been investigated thoroughly in January 2022 when the video was brought to our notice and a complaint had been filed by the airline with the Udyog Vihar Police Station in Gurugram.”

The video, the investigation had revealed, was shot on January 20, 2022, while passengers were boarding flight SG 706 scheduled to fly from Dubai to Delhi, it said.

“The said passenger and his co-passengers shot the video on the 21st row when the cabin crew was occupied with completing the on-boarding procedure. None of the passengers or crew was aware of the act. The matter came to the airline’s notice on January 24, 2022, through social media posts,” it said.

“The matter was referred to the Internal Committee constituted as per the provisions of Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) on the handling of unruly passengers (not consisting of any SpiceJet employee). The said passenger was put on a no flying list by the airline for 15 days in February 2022,” the carrier said.