A Ryanair flight was forced to make an emergency landing in Paris after a passenger allegedly "ate his passport" and another tried to flush theirs down the toilet. The incident happened on a flight from Milan, Italy, to London, UK. It occurred about 15 minutes into the journey, shortly after the seatbelt sign was turned off.
“Essentially, the flight took off, and 15-20 minutes into the flight, once the seatbelt sign was off, something very strange happened at the front of the plane,” said one passenger, as per a report by the New York Post.
The witness described one man tearing out pages of his passport and eating them, prompting alarm among fellow travellers. Then, his companion reportedly ran to the rear of the plane and attempted to flush his passport down the toilet.
Flight attendants tried to intervene, with one pleading with the man to open the lavatory door, but he refused, escalating tension on board.
“No one onboard knew what was going on; these people were acting weird,” the witness said. “The air hostess then made a public announcement that was so blunt and to the point, that freaked people out to another level.”
In response, the pilots decided to divert the flight to Paris. The witness described the descent as “the most terrifying 15 minutes of my life.”
{{/usCountry}}In response, the pilots decided to divert the flight to Paris. The witness described the descent as “the most terrifying 15 minutes of my life.”
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Passengers arrested in Paris
Upon landing, French authorities boarded the plane, arrested the two men, and conducted a thorough search of the passengers’ belongings. The process took approximately two hours before the flight was cleared to continue to London Stansted Airport.
Despite the unsettling episode, the witness praised the Ryanair crew for their handling of the situation. “I think Ryanair (was) brilliant in handling it in a certain way. They gave out drinks towards the end of the flight as we were coming in over Stansted,” the traveller said, adding, “I’m just really f**king glad I landed.”
The motives behind the men’s unusual actions remain unclear, and authorities have not disclosed whether the passengers will face additional charges.