A man who punched seats attacked flight attendants, and kicked windows on a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) trip from Peshawar to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on September 14 has been deported by Dubai Police.
The man wasn’t acting in a worrying manner at check-in when he passed through immigration in Pakistan, the airline claims, but the passenger may have been experiencing mental distress.
Soon after takeoff, the 21-year-old male began saying the call to pray aloud. This is when the event began. He sat face down in the aisle after the cabin crew urged him to stop, delaying the start of the dinner service.
“It was when the plane took off that he started giving azaans [call to prayer] very loudly and the crew asked him not to,” PIA spokesperson Abdullah Khan told The National.
“He became agitated and then got into the aisle and lay down on his chest and said he was offering prayers. He was asked to sit down but then he kicked the window of the plane.”
The cabin crew restrained the man after he started acting “violently” toward airline employees, and the captain asked Dubai police officials to be there when the plane landed in the United Arab Emirates.
“On landing in Dubai, a security team took him out. They probably analyzed him and said he should be deported on the next available flight,” the spokesperson continued.
According to ARY News, the unidentified suspect has been permanently barred from traveling with PIA, and the airline doesn’t seem to be pursuing legal action against him.
Security personnel reportedly turned the man over to family members after assessing him medically, according to PIA.
