A drunk man’s attempt to storm the cockpit of an EasyJet flight when it was up 30,000 feet in the air caused the plane to make an emergency landing. The airline and the passengers also disagreed about certain aspects of the incident. Many travelling with the man claimed that he boarded the flight while already drunk and said that he should not have been allowed on the plane. The airline, in its statement, simply mentioned that the man was “behaving disruptively.”
Eyewitness statements: What happened on the flight?
While speaking with the Sun, an eyewitness said that the man allegedly said that he was flying from Gatwick to Kos to purchase cannabis. At that point, he was already drunk and started misbehaving. Upon being told by a fellow passenger to “shut up”, the man got triggered and created havoc on the flight, including an attempt to storm the cockpit.
Reportedly, he also abused other passengers and screamed, "I ain’t your f****** mate, you c***." He also kept asking for drinks from the flight attendants and misbehaved with one of them by making suggestive comments. He also called one passenger “ugly”. During his tantrums, the man reportedly bragged about serving prison time.
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“My husband said even before we took off that he was drinking out of a large bottle of scotch. He was shouting. He was asking for a beer before the plane even took off and the stewardess said he would have to wait until we were in the air as they don’t have a licence to serve alcohol on the ground,” a passenger shared with the outlet. She added, “After take-off, the man’s shouting, swearing and abuse continued."
{{/usCountry}}“My husband said even before we took off that he was drinking out of a large bottle of scotch. He was shouting. He was asking for a beer before the plane even took off and the stewardess said he would have to wait until we were in the air as they don’t have a licence to serve alcohol on the ground,” a passenger shared with the outlet. She added, “After take-off, the man’s shouting, swearing and abuse continued."
{{/usCountry}}The woman passenger continued, “We were all crapping ourselves that something serious could happen. He had already broken the intercom.”
Another person accused the airline of being lenient with its rules. “EasyJet recorded the diversion as ‘extraordinary circumstance’ but it was extraordinary that they actually let the man on the plane and it was extraordinarily unbelievable that no one was injured or seriously hurt,” the flyer said.
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Another person expressed a similar opinion: “EasyJet washed its hands of the incident, advising it was out of its control, which is not the case. The man should never have been allowed on the plane.”
What did the airline say?
Following the incident, the airline issued a statement. They said the flight from London Gatwick to Kos was diverted to Munich after a passenger started “behaving disruptively.” They also added that the company considered “safety” its “highest priority.”
"While such incidents are rare, we take them very seriously and do not tolerate abusive or threatening behaviour onboard. The flight was delayed overnight while we arranged a replacement crew and provided customers with hotel accommodation and meals along with updates on the flight’s departure this afternoon. While this was outside of our control, we are sorry for the inconvenience caused,” they added.
After the emergency landing in Germany, police detained the man for causing a disturbance.