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An unruly passenger, believed to be drunk, has been removed from a flight after allegedly attempting to enter the flight deck to charge his mobile phone – the latest in a series of weird aviation events to emanate from the same country.

The country is India and the latest incident took place as an IndiGo flight was preparing to take off from Mumbai for Kolkata, the South China Morning Post reported.

“While an IndiGo aircraft being on the ground an unruly passenger tried to enter the cockpit stating that his mobile needs to be charged,” IndiGo said in a statement.

“Following standard operating procedures the captain … initiated the offloading of the passenger on grounds of security violation.”

An airport official told the Press Trust of India news agency that the unruly man, said to be in his mid-30s, was drunk. In a surprising turn of events, police released the man without charge after questioning him. His sole penalty appears to have been missing his flight.

The incident follows a series of bizarre recent incidents affecting Indian flights. Earlier this month, a Jet Airways flight from Mumbai to Jaipur had to turn back after passengers began bleeding from their noses and ears – because pilots forgot to pressurise the cabin.

On that flight, a passenger uploaded footage to Twitter showing the passengers wearing oxygen masks.

It turned out that a pilot had forgotten to flip the pressurisation switch in the cockpit that regulates cabin pressure. The control is known as a “bleed switch” because it regulates “bleed air” – the name for compressed air produced by gas turbine engines.

Earlier this week, a passenger flying GoAir from New Delhi to Patna tried to force open an exit door in mid-air, apparently mistaking it for the toilet. Crew restrained the man – who police questioned and then released. He was a first-time flier and his actions apparently resulted from an honest mistake.

Earlier this year, Jet Airways ordered an investigation into reports that a senior pilot slapped a female co-pilot in the cockpit during a London to Mumbai flight. The co-pilot was said to have emerged from the cockpit crying – not the sort of incident to put passengers at their ease.

Written by Peter Needham