Video Of 'Influencer' Bobby Kataria Smoking Inside SpiceJet Plane Goes Viral, Scindia Orders Probe

The video shows Kataria, who has 6.3 lakh followers on Instagram, lighting a cigarette on one of the back rows of the flight. After probe, Kataria was put on ‘no flying’ list for 15 days.

New Delhi: Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Thursday ordered a probe after a video showing bodybuilder Bobby Kataria smoking on a SpiceJet flight surfaced on the social media, news agency PTI reported. According to the airline, the incident took place on January 20 in its Dubai-Delhi flight when the crew members were busy with on-boarding procedure.

The video shows Kataria, who has 6.3 lakh followers on Instagram, lighting a cigarette on one of the back rows of the flight. After investigation, Kataria was put on ‘no flying’ list for 15 days in February, SpiceJet said.

Notably, passengers are not allowed to take lighter or smoke inside the plane and as per DGCA regulations, an airline has the power to ban any "unruly" passenger for a certain period of time for violation of rules.

After the video of the incident surfaced on Twitter on Thursday, Scindia said, "Investigating it. There will be no tolerance towards such hazardous behaviour."

According to sources from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), the video came to their knowledge in January and they had then written to the airline concerned and sent a complaint to the police in Gurugram.

"We understand the police filed a complaint against him there (in Gurugram)," one of the CISF sources said.

Meanwhile, SpiceJet in a statement said, "This is with reference to 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 said passenger and his co-passengers shot the video on the 21st row when the cabin crew were 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," the statement said.

"The matter was referred to the Internal Committee constituted as per the provisions of Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) on 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," it added.