New Delhi: IndiGo has barred nine electronic media personnel from flying for a fortnight after its internal probe panel found they had behaved in an unruly manner on a Chandigarh-Mumbai flight (6E-264) of September 9 that had, among others, actress Kangana Ranaut on board.

An IndiGo official said the ban period for the journalists was from October 15 to 30.

Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had directed IndiGo on September 11 to “initiate suitable action against those responsible for violation of regulatory provisions and guidelines and submit an action-taken-report, failing which suitable action will be initiated against the airline”. Following the regulatory directive, the airline set up a probe panel as per nofly list rules.

“Earlier this week, IndiGo informed us that its probe panel found media personnel on the flight behaved in an unruly manner that violated flight safety and Covid protocol. The airline grounded these media personnel for two weeks. It sent its probe panel findings and action-taken-report to DGCA and other airlines,” sources said.

Sources said it was up to other airlines to follow action taken by IndiGo against those found guilty of unruly behaviour. Till now Indian carriers have collectively barred passengers, like in cases of MPs barred from flying after misbehaving with airline personnel.

On January 28, IndiGo decided to ground standup comedian Kunal Kamra for six months (later halved) after he confronted TV anchor Arnab Goswami on a flight. Other airlines had also barred Kamra, with AirAsia India and Vistara doing so for one-and-a-half-months.

The suspension was the lowest no-fly period handed out by an airline in India.

On September 9, Ranaut was making a pre-announced return to Mumbai. Inflight videos of 6E-264 showed that soon after the aircraft touched down in Mumbai, electronic media personnel left their seats and rushed to the front row where Ranaut was seated to try to record visuals. Crew repeatedly made announcements for passengers to observe norms.

One of the announcements said: “Please understand, we all are equal. Please do not harass any passenger. Kindly follow all safety rules and remain seated till seatbelt is on.”

DGCA sought a report from the airline and, after receiving it, the regulator had observed that “a number of violations have happened on the day...”

The violations listed in the letter included “not stopping the large number media personnel boarding the flight with cameras in Chandigarh by taking help of security personnel; these passengers not following crew instructions during flight and even after landing; not following Covid-19 protocol”.

DGCA has warned all airlines that allowing a repeat of such behaviour will lead to the airline being suspended for two weeks from operating on the route on which the incident takes place.