Inebriated Swedish flyer arrested for molesting IndiGo cabin crew member

A Swedish national was arrested Thursday for allegedly molesting a cabin crew member on board IndiGo flight in an inebriated state. The incident reportedly took place on a four-hour-long IndiGo flight (6E-1052) from Bangkok to Mumbai.

Klas Erik Harald Jonas Westberg (63) was arrested on arrival at Mumbai airport around 6. 30 pm but was subsequently released on payment of a Rs 20,000 bail surety by the Andheri Metropolitan Magistrate Court on Friday.

The passenger allegedly began to misbehave when meals were being served. His run-ins with the cabin crew lasted till the flight landed. At one stage, the 24-year-old cabin crew member alerted the captain and read out a red warning card to Westberg, as per a TOI report.


The Swedish national was handed over to Mumbai police by the airline staff when the flight landed at Mumbai Airport on Thursday, officials said.

The accused was arrested on Thursday after a complaint by IndiGo Airlines and was produced in the Andheri court on Friday and granted bail the same day, officials said.
Sahar police filed a four-page chargesheet using the accounts of three witnesses, the report said.

Narrating the incident in the complaint, the cabin crew member said, "The problem began when I informed Westberg (seated on 28-E), who was drunk, that there was noseafood onboard. I served him chicken meals and asked for his ATM card to make a payment through the POS machine. On the pretext of swiping the card, the passenger held my hand. I pulled it back and asked him to enter the card PIN. This time he crossed the limit ... getting up, he molested me in front of other passengers. When I shouted and screamed that he was misbehaving, he returned to his seat."

According to the police, moments later Westberg stood up again and began arguing with another cabin crew member, mouthing abuses. "The accused kept hurling 'f**k y**' during the entire journey. It is then that the victim read out the red warning card and ... declared (him) an 'unruly passenger'. " Westberg also assaulted 'another passenger seated on 28-D' who confronted him, the FIR said.

When the flight landed, the IndiGo security officer and CISF officials were informed and Westberg was handed over to police.

Westberg is the eighth unruly flyer arrested in the last three months. In all of 2022, police arrested six. This is the fifth case of molestation onboard registered between 2017 and 2023.

Recently, the Sahar Police booked two IndiGo flyers travelling from Dubai to Mumbai for allegedly being drunk and misbehaving with the crew.

Preventing highly intoxicated travellers from boarding the aircraft, limit alcohol intake, instal CCTV cameras and sensitise staff about sexual harassment are part of the detailed guidelines given by DCW to the aviation regulator amid rising incidents of unruly passengers on flights.

In a letter to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the Delhi Commission for Women said it has observed increasing incidents of disruptive and unruly passengers on flights in recent months, adding such incidents are extremely unpleasant and traumatising for the passengers.