IndiGo flight captain writes to management, says 'disheartened' action taken against Kunal Kamra without consulting me: Report

The captain of the IndiGo flight which saw Kunal Kamra allegedly heckle journalist Arnab Goswami has written to the airline management saying he was “disheartened” to learn the carrier took action against the comedian without consulting him and solely on the basis of social media posts, Moneycontrol reported.

“As captain of 6E5317 Mumbai-Lucknow flight on January 28, I do not find…events reportable in any way. Mr. Kamra’s behaviour, while unsavoury, was not qualifying of a level 1 unruly passenger. Indeed, we pilots can all attest to incidents similar and/or worse in nature that were not deemed unruly (sic),” the captain said in his email to the airline’s management.

“Furthermore, I was disheartened to learn that my airline has taken action in this case solely on the basis of social media posts, with no consultation whatsoever with the pilot in command. This is somewhat unprecedented in my nine years of airline flying. Moving forward, am I to understand that the bar for interpretation of a disruptive passenger is lower/different when it comes to high profile cases?… I would like a clarification from the airline as this leaves a lot of room for ambiguity (sic),” he added.

IndiGo released this statement to ANI: “We have taken cognisance of the letter of the pilot, who was operating the flight on which Kunal Kamra and Arnab Goswami were traveling. We have received the relevant statements and the internal committee has initiated the investigation regarding this incident.”

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday came out in support of Kamra, saying those who use their cameras as “tools of propaganda” should show some spine when the camera is turned on them.

His reaction came after SpiceJet and GoAir banned Kamra from flying with them after IndiGo and Air India suspended him. “The ban imposed on Kunal Kamra by 4 airlines is the act of a coward leveraging his influence with the Govt to silence a critic. “Those who use their ’news’ cameras as 24x7 tools of propaganda, should show some spine when the camera is turned on them,” Rahul said on Twitter.

Kamra allegedly heckled Goswami, the editor of Republic TV, on IndiGo’s Mumbai-Lucknow (6E5317) flight on Tuesday. In a video clip posted by Kamra on his Twitter handle, he is seen asking Goswami if he is a “coward or a journalist”. While Goswami can be seen sitting in the plane and watching something on his laptop with his earphones plugged in, Kamra is heard telling him, “You should fight against dynasts like Rahul Gandhi, who I support, on 10 Tughlaq Lane. Arnab, you should have a reply, Arnab. Arnab, are you a coward or are you a journalist?”

With inputs from agencies