NRI offloaded for strange behaviour onboard

Mumbai: An NRI passenger was offloaded from a Newark-bound Air India flight after he was found behaving suspiciously just minutes after the
aircraft started taxiing on Thursday morning at Mumbai airport. The passenger was handed over to the airport police.
According to an airline source, the passenger identified as Mark Sharma, was initially booked to fly on Wednesday. "He reached the airport, checked-in his bag and collected the boarding pass. But prior to boarding, he had a change of heart and asked for a ticket cancellation. His boarding pass was cancelled, his check-in bags removed and he left the airport,'' the source said.
The passenger came back on Thursday and this time, he did board the Mumbai-Paris-Newark Air India flight 191. But problems began just after the aircraft started taxiing around 8.05 am.
"In a span of 10-15 minutes, he changed his seat 3-4 times. Then he got up and went to the washroom with his hand baggage,'' said the source. As the aircraft was preparing for take-off, there was hardly any passenger movement in the cabin and Sharma's behaviour alerted his co-passengers who informed the cabin crew about it. "... the commander decided to taxi the aircraft back to the parking bay and the passenger was offloaded,'' said the source.
An Air India spokesperson confirmed Thursday's incident, adding that the passenger was handed over to the airport police. "The aircraft was back in the parking bay at 8.30 am,'' said the official, adding that after the passenger was offloaded, his check-in baggage was traced and removed from the aircraft. The flight took off three hours behind schedule. Senior police inspector, Dilip Patil of Sahar police station said the matter was being probed.
30/10/08 Times of India

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Categories: Air India - International Oct 2008, Airports Oct 2008, Foreign Oct 2008, NACIL Oct 2008, Safety Oct 2008