Smoked inside dummy plane, says Kataria; SpiceJet the opposite

New Delhi: In an incident where a social media influencer allegedly smoked inside a SpiceJet aircraft, the person, Bobby Kataria, came up claiming that he smoked inside a dummy aircraft. However, Kataria's explanation contradicts SpiceJet's statement confirming that such an incident had happened on their flight in January this year, NDTV reported.

Kataria is facing a police case in connection with the incident.

ANI reported that Kataria said that the video in which he was seen smoking was a part of his shooting in Dubai. He knows that "taking the lighter inside a plane is not allowed", NDTV quotes him.

In a video, the Gurgaon-based influencer with more than 6.30 lakh followers was seen smoking a cigarette while lying in an aircraft seat. After the video went viral, Union Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia was flagged for the same, and the minister said yesterday that such behaviour could not be tolerated.

SpiceJet also released a statement yesterday saying that the incident happened in January, and an investigation has been initiated after Gurgaon Police received a complaint.

SpiceJet's statement said that the video was shot on 20th January 2022, while flight SG 706 was boarding passengers ahead of a trip from Dubai to Delhi. The mentioned passenger and his co-passenger shot the video on the 21st row while the cabin crew was occupied with completing the boarding procedure. None of the crew nor passengers noticed the incident, and the airlines noticed the same through social media posts, the statement said.

It also said that the passenger was put on a no-flying list for 15 days in February.

Meanwhile, Kataria strongly criticized the media for using his name to hike TRP (Television Rating Point) ratings. He wrote on social media that they only need TRP and say anything to keep politicians engaged, NDTV reported.

In India, smoking inside a passenger aircraft is banned. In addition to causing inconvenience to passengers, smoking also escalates the chances of fires inside the pressurized flight cabin.

Bobby Kataria also faces a police case for alleged liquor consumption on a busy road in Uttarakhand, NDTV reports.