Citing ‘unruly behaviour,’ a large group of 70 passengers were booted off a flight about to take off in Hyderabad, India.
The IndiGo flight was preparing to depart for Raipur when a dispute developed as several passengers in the group were attempting to change seats among themselves.
An ‘altercation’ with cabin crew then escalated as ground staff were called in to assist.
"The situation worsened and led to the extent of offloading of passengers," said airport police inspector T Sudhakar, who confirmed 70 people were taken off the plane at Hyderabad.
"IndiGo confirms offloading of 70 passengers (group booking) who were scheduled to fly on 6E-466 from Hyderabad to Raipur on the grounds of unruly behaviour," the airline said in a statement.
It said several members of the group ignored repeated requests to take their seats as the aircraft doors were about to close.
The carrier said it had lodged a complaint with airport police over the incident.
Members of the group countered by claiming they were harassed by airline staff and the plane took off without handing back their checked-in baggage.
IndiGo said despite the earlier fracas, all members of the group were given free food and accommodated on a later flight without charge.
