A Ryanair plane bound for London Stansted was forced to make an emergency landing after a “mass brawl” between passengers. Just 36 minutes after its takeoff from Agadir, Morocco, the aircraft was diverted to Marrakesh when the passengers fought and screamed at each other.
What happened on Ryanair ‘flight from hell’?
One passenger told The US Sun that the fight erupted when a man in his late 20s began threatening a passenger after she refused to switch seats. The thug had asked the woman who was sitting with his daughter to move so that he could sit with his wife and children.
Shortly after takeoff when the seatbelt signs were off, the woman's husband picked a fight with the man. A finance worker from Herts told the outlet, “They were trying to punch each other. One of the families was part of a larger group so other passengers started to join in. Then a lady in the row behind started to have a panic attack because of everything going on.”
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“She was screaming and there were kids crying. It was like a snowball effect,” the 36-year-old continued, adding, “We were only in the air for 36 minutes before we had to do an unexpected landing. It was so stressful. It was like the flight from hell. And it all escalated from that one passenger wanting to change seats.”
{{/usCountry}}“She was screaming and there were kids crying. It was like a snowball effect,” the 36-year-old continued, adding, “We were only in the air for 36 minutes before we had to do an unexpected landing. It was so stressful. It was like the flight from hell. And it all escalated from that one passenger wanting to change seats.”
{{/usCountry}}As the two families quarrelled with each other, another passenger became ill and was administered oxygen. Medics treated him upon landing and declared him unfit for flying. In a shocking turn of events, he refused to get off the flight and began hurtling abusive words at the cabin crew.
In a video recording of the chaotic scene, the man can be heard yelling, “Give me my f****** bag. I will whack your jaw, bruv.” Other passengers begged him to leave, but he refused. However, he was eventually deplaned by authorities.
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What did the airline say?
A spokesperson for Ryanair said, “As it took almost two hours in total to treat and offload these disruptive passengers, during which time the rest of the passengers remained onboard, the crew reached their permitted flying hours, and caused the flight to be delayed overnight.”
“Affected passengers were provided with overnight accommodation and transport to/from the airport. This flight departed to London the following day. We sincerely apologise to passengers for this diversion and subsequent delay caused by a small group of disruptive passengers, which was out of Ryanair’s control,” the statement added.