Flight Makes Emergency Landing As Maskless Man Assaults Cabin Crew

Friday’s Air France flight from Paris to Delhi, India made an emergency landing in Sofia, Bulgaria when a passenger began arguing with those around him shortly after takeoff and assaulted a flight attendant.

The man is maskless. The flight attendant to puts up his fists, preparing to box, has his mask down beneath his nose. I can make out shouting about [Indian Prime Minister Narendra] Modi, cabin crew telling people to sit down, and a woman with an Indian accent asking the man in English, “What the F- is wrong with you?”

The man had originated in Accra, Ghana and was connecting in Paris. He didn’t have any reported issues on the first leg of his trip.

Air France flight AF226 diverted in order to remove and arrest the passenger. It spent 2 hours and 1 minute on the ground before continuing its journey to India.

The man is facing charges of endangering the safety of an aircraft while airborne, and faces up to 10 years of imprisonment if convicted. He has been provided with a court-appointed lawyer, an interpreter and consular assistance from the Indian embassy in Bulgaria.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. Feels like all this blog is anymore is stories about maskless people. It is like the Jerry Springer of travel coverage.

  2. How about issuing the cabin crews tasers with extra power packs?
    Non lethal and when they are serving meals etc they can delegate a passenger to help out.
    I can’t wait to fly with the insane.

  3. No other way to get from Accra Ghana to Delhi?

    Nothing through Dubai or Abu Dhabi?

    I wonder if this gentleman has ever flown GLOBAL GHANA!!!!

  4. According to the original poster of this video, “One 5th march 2021 evening, Air France flight from Paris to Delhi AF226 faced a challenging situation when one of its passenger started misbehaving with other passengers and flight crew. He was claiming that he is possessed with some supernatural power and will end up killing all the flight crew and passengers. He even punched one of the flight attendants. Later captain diverted the plane and did emergency landing in sofia (Bulgaria) to disembark the crazy passenger.” (The description is attached to the video.)

    Yes, the passenger is unmasked, but there’s something clearly much more happening here. Maybe it’s just me, but it feels insensitive to recirculate a video of someone who’s mentally unwell and perhaps having a breakdown.

  5. Feel sorry for this flight attendant. Flying with Indian people is like being brutally tortured. One’d better do hard labor work in North Korea than serving Indian flyers. The famous country for gang rape, for not having toilets,… Anyone wants to experience, take any NJ Transit train after 4PM. Oh my mistake, the Indian Luxury train…

  6. Why is this guy able to fly from Ghana to India through France and I can’t #$%^ even drive to Canada?!?!
    Why is there no reciprocity? USA has had open borders throughout this pandemic. The world has been able to travel to the US but those same countries won’t allow us in. I fly domestically for work and I keep walking by international gates at JFK seeing plane loads of passengers going and coming from various international locations. Meanwhile, I’m a healthcare worker, I’m insanely cautious, I get tested weekly, I’ve been vaccinated since January, and I’m stuck not being able to travel to most countries who’s citizens are permitted to fly here.
    /endrant

  7. The AF crew guy was ready for a fist fight to bust out with the crazy passenger.

    Did the crazy passenger really invoke Modi’s name or did he just like calling some person fatty in Hindi?

  8. Gary’s Karen (Ken) of the week story (about to become Karen/Ken of the day at the rate this blog is going). Dreck blog.

  9. What’s the likely maximum penalty for this kind of incident when it comes to prosecution in a Bulgarian court?

    Sofia Central isn’t a Norwegian prison, but maybe he will prefer even Sofia Central to Tihar in Delhi.

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