Kunal Kamra-Arnab Goswami row: IndiGo pilot says comedian was not unruly

Kunal Kamra was banned by IndiGo and AirIndia after a video of him confronting Arnab Goswami went viral on Twitter.
Kunal Kamra-Arnab Goswami row: IndiGo pilot says comedian was not unruly
Kunal Kamra-Arnab Goswami row: IndiGo pilot says comedian was not unruly
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The pilot-in-command of the IndiGo flight in which journalist Arnab Goswami was allegedly heckled by Kunal Kamra has told airline's management that he was "disheartened" to learn the carrier took action against the comedian without consulting him and solely on the basis of social media posts.

"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," the captain said in his email to the airline's management which has been accessed by PTI.

When asked about the pilot-in-command's email, IndiGo said, "We have received the relevant statements and the internal committee has initiated the investigation regarding this incident."

He further added that he was disappointed that the airline had taken such a measure without consulting him.

"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,” he wrote.

On Tuesday, January 28 comedian Kunal Kamra approached and confronted Arnab Goswami on a flight and recorded a video of the incident. In the 1.51 minute of the video that had been posted by Kunal on Twitter, Arnab can be seated on the flight wearing shades and earphones as Kunal proceeds to question him about his journalistic ethics.

“I am asking coward Arnab Goswami questions about his journalism and he is doing exactly what I expected him to do... is being a coward. First he called me mentally unstable and now he’s saying, ‘I’m watching something.’”

The video went viral and had garnered over 2 million views as of Wednesday. Shortly after the incident was highlighted, Kunal Kamra was banned by IndiGo and AirIndia.

(With PTI Inputs)

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