Opposition reacts after reports claim BJP MP opened IndiGo flight exit door

The Opposition, including the Congress, targeted Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya amid media reports that the passenger who accidentally opened the emergency exit of an IndiGo plane was the BJP Yuva Morcha chief.

In a statement on Tuesday, IndiGo said a passenger travelling on flight 6E 7339 from Chennai to Tiruchirapalli on December 10 last year accidentally opened the emergency exit during the boarding process.

The airline said the passenger opened the emergency exit of the IndiGo plane after boarding at Chennai airport and the aircraft, which was on the ground, was subject to mandatory engineering checks before it flew to Tiruchirapalli.

Media reports quoted what they called eyewitnesses as saying that 32-year-old Bengaluru South MP Surya was the passenger who opened the emergency gate. HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the reports, which sparked a massive political row.

The Congress has questioned why the government hid the incident for so long. Neither Surya nor his office has reacted to the allegations so far.

“The BJP VIP Brats ! How dare the airline complain? Is it the norm for the BJP power elite? Did it compromise passenger safety? Ohhh! U can’t ask questions about BJP’s entitled VIP’s !” Congress MP Randeep Singh Surjewala tweeted.

Another Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi alleges that it “seems someone is too eager to achieve big in political life”. “It doesn’t happen this way. Success in politics is a factor of humility and perseverance, not volatility and arrogance,” Singhvi tweeted.

Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi asked, “Has ⁦@IndiGo6E reported this incident to ⁦ @DGCAIndia? Shouldn’t one⁩ take suo moto cognisance of this incident?What if this happened once the aircraft had taken off rather than when it was taxiing on the runway,should an apology suffice?”

She added, “As per @thenewsminute the DGCA was unaware of this violation that took place at the Chennai Airport onboard a Chennai-Trichy IndiGo flight on Dec 10, 2022. When will @DGCAIndia serve a notice to @IndiGo6E for this violation?”

While the airline declined to comment about the identity of the passenger, it said “the passenger immediately apologised for the action”.

“As per SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures), the incident was logged and the aircraft underwent mandatory engineering checks, which led to a delay in the flight’s departure,” it said.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a DGCA official told HT that they were informed about the incident, and it appeared that the passenger opened the gate “by mistake”.