Airline Passenger Allegedly Abuses Cabin Crew, Strips Naked Mid-Air

A 45-year-old Italian woman created a ruckus on an Air Vistara plane as she allegedly punched a cabin crew member and stripped partially naked mid-air.

Air Vistara flight UK 256 was en route to the Indian city of Mumbai from Abu Dhabi on Monday. The woman, identified as Paola Perruccio, was arrested at the Mumbai airport after the airline crew lodged a complaint.

The flier allegedly insisted on sitting in the business class even though she was holding an economy class ticket. She assaulted the cabin crew members when they confronted her, took off some of her clothes and walked up and down the aisle, local daily Hindusthan Times reported.

"In view of the continued unruly conduct and violent behavior, the captain issued a warning card and made a decision to restrain the customer. The pilot made regular announcements to assure the other customers onboard of their safety and security," Vistara said, reported NDTV.

"At around 2.30 a.m. (3.30 p.m. ET), the woman, who was seated in the economy class, suddenly got up, ran to the business class and took a seat there. Two members of the cabin crew approached her to enquire if she needed help. When the flier did not respond, they requested her to return to her assigned seat. At this point, she started shouting at them and made aggressive gestures, leading the crew to suspect she was abusing them," a police spokesperson said in a statement.

The woman reportedly even punched a cabin crew member in the face when they tried to stop her from misbehaving. She allegedly hurled abuses at them while strolling across the aisle in a partially naked state.

Perruccio was granted bail on a cash deposit of INR 25,000 ($306).

Meanwhile, Perruccio's lawyer, Prabhakar Tripathi, said the ruckus broke out after the woman tried to complain about bad services provided to her. She was allegedly stopped by the crew from going to the lavatory. He claimed police even seized his client's passport illegally.

"Details have been submitted before the court that Perruccio wanted to complain against Vistara because of the bad services provided to her. She was going to the washroom but was not allowed. The situation arose because of an on-flight ruckus between her and the crew members which ended in a case being filed against her. The court has also been told that police have seized her passport illegally," Tripathi added, reported First Post.