The flight is about to land; all passengers are strapped in; and the national anthem starts playing on the plane's PA system.

Do the passengers stand up to show respect, or remain strapped in as per flight rules? This unlikeliest of dilemmas did play out — on a SpiceJet flight from Tirupati to Hyderabad on April 18, prompting a passenger to file a complaint with the airline.

The anthem was played by the cabin crew on board SpiceJet flight SG1044 on April 18, minutes before the landing. The passengers and cabin crew were not in a position to stand up and accord it due respect, said passenger Puneet Tiwari.

"We were surprised when the national anthem was played and the passengers were forced to abide by the pilot's directions to keep the seat belt on," Tiwari, who works as a manager of a bank in Indore, told TOI.

One of the cabin crew members switched off the music system in the middle of the anthem and later switched it on again, he alleged.

The bank manager, who made a video of the incident, claimed that he was hurt by the manner in which the airlines was indifferent towards the incident.

A SpiceJet spokesman told TOI, "On this flight, inadvertently, our crew selected the wrong number on the playlist and the National Anthem started playing. Immediately, the same was stopped. We regret any inconvenience caused to our esteemed customers."

Tiwari, who was travelling with his wife Pratyushi and their one-and-half year-old daughter, said a complaint was lodged with the airlines crew, who claimed that they were not in a position to do anything about it as the national anthem was uploaded in the system.

The SpiceJet spokesman accepted: "We have pre-recorded national anthem on our aircraft playlist to be used appropriately."

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