Passengers vomit after 'being blasted with air-con in cabin to hound them off plane'

Panicked passengers aboard an AirAsia flight say they were blasted with the air-conditioning in a bid to force them off the plane, which had been delayed on the tarmac for more than an hour.

Video posted on social media shows the agitated passengers on the flight from Kolkata to Bagdogra in India shouting and coughing as a fog-like substance blows from the air vents, filling the cabin.

Dipankar Ray, who posted this video, said the situation became hostile when AirAsia crew announced a technical error would require everyone to exit the plane and return to the terminal through heavy rain.

But when passengers began to protest, Mr Ray said the air-conditioning was put on full-blast to “hound passengers out”.

“The flight was scheduled to depart at 9am and was initially delayed by 30 minutes. After boarding, we kept sitting inside the aircraft for one-and-a-half hours with no food or water at all,” Mr Ray told The Times of India.

He said some of the female passengers became overwhelmed by the mist and started vomiting.

The passengers were taken to the terminal and finally departed four hours later on the same aircraft.

AirAsia released a statement on the issue confirming the flight had been delayed for 4.5 hours.

In relation to the air-conditioning, AirAsia said the fog-like consistency was a “normal occurrence” when operating in high-humidity conditions and it was “no danger” to the passengers.