Undies in plane loo spark scare

Mumbai: An AI plane was delayed for over three hours on Thursday after an allegedly intoxicated passenger decided to get rid off his briefs in the plane loo.
Air India’s flight 191, scheduled for takeoff at 7.45 am, took off only at 11.05 am after Mark Mahendra Sharma (31), a non-resident Indian from the US, sparked panic by visiting the loo several times during takeoff, though airline rules disallow it. Passengers and the crew got suspicious about his erratic behavior.
According to an AI official, all the 156 passengers were seated with their seat belts on and the aircraft had started taxiing toward the runaway. “That’s when Sharma got up and went to the toilet,” said the AI official. When the seat belt sign is on, no passenger or crew can visit the toilet. “However, Sharma frequented the toilet many times, making passengers and the crew suspicious,” he added.
During one of his visits, Sharma removed his underwear and left it in the toilet. “In a statement by the air-hostess, she told us that she asked him to take it away,” said a Sahar police station official. Sharma obliged, but minutes later he returned and stuffed the underwear into the commode. “While doing this, one of his two mobiles fell in too,” said the police official.
When the airhostess checked inside the toilet again, she saw the mobile and panicked.
“The captain thought it would be risky to continue the flight and requested air traffic control to abort take-off,” he added.
Sharma was offloaded and handed over to the Sahar police.
31/10/08 Navita Singh/Daily News & Analysis

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