Mother, crying baby deplaned from Vistara flight from Chennai to Delhi

A 30-year-old mother, who had just boarded the Vistara Airline flight from Chennai to New Delhi on Monday, was struggling to calm her four-month-old baby, and finally had to deboard the plane. Incidentally, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami was also travelling to Delhi on the same flight. The flight was delayed due to the incident, but it took off at 12.15 pm, without the mother and her baby. Though initial reports said that the couple and the baby were deplaned, Vistara said that the mother asked to deboard with her daughter as she was concerned about her daughter's health.

The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister boarded the Vistara flight from Chennai to Delhi on Monday for a two-day official meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several senior BJP leaders. The flight was supposed to take off at 11.55 pm with 94 passengers. However, once passengers boarded the flight, a four-month-old baby reportedly started crying inconsolably. The parents of the baby — tried to console the baby but their efforts failed.

Soon, the passengers in the flight allegedly started raising complains, stating that they were getting disturbed by the cries. Scenarios where infants crying throughout the flight journey are common and flight attendants intervene to help the parents.

Initially, the mother showed apprehensions to exit but later agreed. The incident resulted in a delay of the flight by 15 minutes, said reports.

Once the mother and daughter deplaned, the plane took off at 12.15 pm along with the Chief Minister and 92 passengers. Sources in the Chief Minister's Office said the CM boarded the flight only 20 minutes after the mother and child were deplaned, and that the airline has deplaned crying babies previously as well.

On Monday, the Chief Minister travelled to Delhi on a two-day visit to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior BJP leaders to likely discuss the alliance for the upcoming Assembly polls in April-May 2021. The BJP is yet to formally announce the alliance with AIADMK. The talk is also likely to include the release of VK Sasikala, the aide of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, from prison on January 27.

The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister also visited Delhi to invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi for inaugurating the memorial constructed for former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa at the Marina Beach.

Apart from polls and inauguration, the Chief Minister is also likely to seek funds from the Union government for several ongoing projects in the state.

“Vistara would like to confirm that a lady passenger travelling with her husband and daughter (infant) on our flight UK 838 from Chennai to Delhi on 18 January 2021 had requested to deboard the aircraft with her daughter, soon after boarding was completed. The request was made since she was concerned about her daughter’s health as she was continuously crying. Our crew and ground staff extended full support to the passengers while ensuring all relevant protocols were followed. Safety and comfort of all our customers is our utmost priority which was highly appreciated in this case by the passenger and her family," a Vistara spokesperson said.