The captain said the airline took action against the comedian without consulting him

The captain said the airline took action against the comedian without consulting him

The captain said the airline took action against the comedian without consulting him

In a major twist in the case related to the alleged misbehavior of Kunal Kamra with senior journalist Arnab Goswami on board an IndiGo plane, the pilot-in-command of the flight revealed that the stand-up comedian's behavior, “while unsavoury, was not qualifying of a level 1 unruly passenger”.

The captain who operated the Mumbai – Lucknow flight has written a letter to the IndiGo management, asking why the airline didn't consult him before banning the comedian.

"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," he said in the letter.

The captain further said he was "disheartened" to learn the carrier took action against the comedian solely on the basis of social media posts, without consulting him.

The IndiGo has confirmed that it received the pilot's letter.

On Tuesday, IndiGo suspended Kamra from flying with it for six months after he heckled the journalist aboard the plane. Following this, more airlines including Air India, SpiceJet and GoAir, also put him under suspension “till further notice”.

Meanwhile, Air Asia and Vistara said their internal committees are reviewing the matter and will take action according to due process.

The DGCA, meanwhile, said action of the four airlines, who have banned Kamra, is in complete consonance with its regulations.

Kamra allegedly heckled Goswami, the editor of Republic TV, on IndiGo's Mumbai-Lucknow (6E5317) flight on Tuesday.

In a video clip posted by Kamra on his Twitter handle, he is seen asking Goswami if he is a "coward or a journalist".

While Goswami can be seen sitting in the plane and watching something on his laptop with his earphones plugged in, Kamra is heard telling him, "Viewers want to know if Arnab today is a coward or a nationalist. Arnab, this is for national interest. I am part of the 'tukde-tukde' narrative. You should deflate me. You should take the enemy of the states down. You should make sure that the country is in safe hands of Narendra Modi."