A clip of a large family sharing home-cooked food on an IndiGo flight is gaining a lot of traction on social media after it surfaced in late August 2026. The footage showed roughly 15 people open boxes of food. “They handed out plates,” the report claims, adding that they carried servings up and down the aisle. Some of the younger women do their press-on nails. The footage also shows passengers being uncomfortable with the smell. At the end, a woman circulates with a bin bag and clears up behind everyone. Critics were quick to point out that a dozen-plus people on their feet at altitude is a hazard no matter what’s being done or what’s on the plates. Others noted that carriers let passengers bring their own dry food aboard, so no rule had been broken. Food is allowed on the flight so they are not breaking any rules.And about the smell, Does it not smell when airlines provide food?? Get out of this inferiority complex that west have planted in your mind.— ||xXx|| (@llxXxll__Killer) August 26, 2026 One of the passengers with the party answered the pile-on herself, revealing on Instagram that they’d missed breakfast and they ate quickly and packed up inside 20 minutes. “Staff was not bothered once, and we made sure to keep the aisles clear,” she wrote. The story took on a life of its own anyway, getting shared across different social media. There’s also the claim, published by outlets, that the airline has banned all the passengers, even though there’s been no evidence to substantiate the claim. Some called out the delicate nature of the reactions that have been circulating online. “This is so fake,” wrote one user on TikTok, while another added: “What in the racism?” “Indian food smells bomb,” one person said. “Why is everyone complaining?” Some countered, arguing it has to do with common sense. “It’s not racism it’s just common sense. You should think about others around you and think how that may affect them,” a comment read. The rules that make the embellishments to this story unlikely Indian carriers cannot strike names off a manifest at will. Since 2017, bans have run through the Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s requirement on unruly passengers, per Deccan Herald. That essentially means the pilot in command files the complaint, and an internal panel decides it, chaired by a retired district or sessions judge. The panel gets 30 days to decide and the airline may suspend the flier for that period while the panel sits. Sanctions are tiered by conduct, too. Verbal disruption may get you banned for up to three months, while physical abuse is usually six. For life-threatening acts, a passenger might be banned for a two-year minimum. For now, neither IndiGo nor any other parties have chimed in on the conversation, so we’d take anything you read on social media with a grain of salt.