The three football player accused of molesting a SpiceJet airhostess on Tuesday, were hurling abuses at the crew members, said Ashok Pai who was on board the same flight.
“I was in my seat when I heard people arguing. I got up to see what was happening and saw two passengers arguing with the air purser,” Pai told DNA. “They kept shouting ‘f*** y**, f*** y**’. Then someone from their team intervened and took the players back to their seats.”
Pai refused to divulge more details. However, the Santa Cruz airport police now plan to record statements of the passengers on board the SpiceJet Goa-Mumbai flight SG 804. The police claim that without any witnesses, it will be one person’s word against the other — with the crew on one side and the Churchill Brothers on the other.
“We have got the passenger list from the airline and will take their statements on what really happened on the SpiceJet Goa-Mumbai flight SG 804,” said inspector GG Patil, Santa Cruz airport police station.
The police said they are going to check the CCTV footage of the players at the Mumbai airport. “The footage will give us an idea of the footballers’ behaviour. We have also asked for the transcripts from the cockpit voice-recorder to know what the pilot actually told the Mumbai air traffic control (ATC),” an airport official said.
The team landed in controversy when three of its players — Okolie Odafa Onyeka, Kalu Ogba Nnanna and Arindam Bhattacharya — were arrested on Tuesday on charges of allegedly molesting an airhostess. They were later released on bail. The players, however, maintained that Odafa’s hand had accidentally hit the airhostess. They said they apologised to the hostess but a male purser started yelling at them.
According to the Mumbai ATC, the SpiceJet pilot has asked for priority landing on account of unruly passengers. “The pilot said that there were two unruly passengers and that he wanted priority landing. He also asked for security cover,” a senior ATC official said.
Comments