A flight attendant was left injured after a scuffle between the air hostess and the daughter of former Quetta Commissioner on a Karachi-bound flight of a private airline on Tuesday.
According to media reports, the issue began when the female flight attendant asked the female passenger to fasten her seat belt and close the tray before the take-off. Reports claim that the passenger is the daughter of the former Quetta Commissioner Iftikhar Jogezai. The verbal altercation soon turned into a scuffle. Visuals from the fight emerged on social media a day later on Wednesday.
Both Iftekhar Jogezai and his daughter Saima Jogezai were traveling together on the plane.
Earlier, both the father and daughter had also misbehaved with the airline staff during check-in at Quetta Airport. Their unruly behavior continued onboard, where they reportedly used inappropriate language and caused a disturbance.
As tensions escalated, the captain was forced to contact the air control and requested to taxi the aircraft back to the runway as the matter could have escalated further. Airport Security Staff was immediately called on board. The passenger then punched the nose of the flight attendant. This left her nose bleeding and broke one of her teeth.
Following the assault, ASF detained both father and daughter on the plane. Civil aviation authorities have urged the father-daughter duo to submit a formal written apology to avoid ramifications of the altercation.
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After signing the document, the two were allowed to leave. Meanwhile, the flight, now delayed, eventually took off—without them.
The video of the incident sparked a debate on social media. Users are slamming the VIP and elite culture in Pakistan.
“An air hostess was left bleeding & lost a tooth—her only ‘fault’ was asking the daughter of the ex-Commissioner of Quetta to fasten her seatbelt. The ‘princess’ punched her. No FIR, no complaint, and both father & daughter, who were on the flight, walked free. This is our system,” said Twitter user Ihtisham-ul-Haq on Twitter.
Many have called for the probe into the incident and others have condemned the actions of the influential female passenger.