Sent home from India after 'losing his inhibitions'

A Congress of the People MP reportedly tried to open the door of an SAA plane while drunk on a flight to India, Beeld reported on Monday.

Dirk Feldman, part of a Parliamentary delegation, apparently decided he needed to get off the plane and began fiddling with the emergency doors.

Cope chief whip Dennis Bloem told the newspaper on Sunday: “He had too much to drink and they say he lost his inhibitions.

“They detained him for a few hours at the airport and then released him, after which he would apparently be sent home.” 

SAA’s head of internal flight services, Martin Kemp, said such incidents occurred infrequently.

Parliament said in a statement on Sunday it was decided that Feldman be sent home after the delegation arrived in Mumbai.

A decision on further action would be taken once Parliament had received reports from witnesses and SAA.