Two pilots have been grounded after they allegedly left their cockpit mid-flight to trade punches with crew members in front of stunned passengers.

Severe turbulence broke out on the Air India flight after an air hostess accused the men of sexual harassment. The 120 passengers watched as the pair left the jet controls to brawl in the aisle with the crew, the Times Of India reported. As the row escalated the pilots threatened to divert the jet to Pakistan.

Air India said the two pilots had been de-rostered and an investigation has been been launched. Two crew members have also been suspended.

A 24-year-old air hostess has filed a police complaint against one of the pilots for “outraging the modesty of a woman”, the paper said. The woman is alleged to have been pushed out of the cockpit after she deflected the pilots’ attentions.

“The air hostess sustained bruises and injuries on her hand,” Joint Commissioner of Police (operations) Satyendera Garg said. “There are several eyewitnesses and we are recording their statements.”

The brawl kicked off on the Airbus A-320 flight from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates to Delhi. But co-pilot Amit Khanna denied there had been a punch-up. “There was no fight between us on the flight,” he told the paper.

Source: Sky News