An allegedly drunk passenger on board the plane tried to storm into the cockpit of an easyJet plane, causing chaos in the air and forcing the pilot to change course and make an emergency landing, terrifying passengers on board.
Flight U28235 took off from London Gatwick Airport in the UK just after 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday and was headed for Kos International Airport in Greece.
The Airbus A320 encountered turbulence during the scheduled four-hour flight, causing some discomfort for one passenger who was high on whiskey.
The passenger, who was allegedly drunk, said the captain was a “terrible” person and intended to take over the controls when the plane was flying more than 30,000 feet above the ground. The US newspaper The Sun reported this.
During the flight, an unidentified passenger attempted to open an emergency exit door, resulting in a fight involving flight attendants and other passengers, after which the passenger was detained.
The plane made an emergency landing at Munich Airport one hour and 44 minutes after takeoff. Flight Tracker FlightAware.
German police boarded the plane, handcuffed the passengers and escorted them off the plane, as passengers cheered. I captured a TikTok.
As police escorted the disturbing passengers from the plane, an angry passenger shouted from the back of the plane, “Get off, you loser.”
Another passenger was met with applause after reportedly holding the man down “until Captain Mike got us to a safe landing”.
While police were solving the incident, passengers chanted rapper KRS-One's lyrics, “Sound of da Police,” to galvanize the fliers who started the disturbance.
“The flight attendants were fantastic and very brave but the whole incident is extremely upsetting,” a source told the outlet.
According to the report, during the mid-air incident, a passenger destroyed the in-flight intercom and got into an argument with the flight crew.
EasyJet said the emergency landing was due to “disruptive passenger behaviour on board”.
“Safety is easyJet's number one priority and our cabin crew are trained to think quickly and act appropriately in any situation to ensure the safety of the flight and other passengers is not compromised at any time,” the airline told the Post. “While incidents like this are rare, we take them extremely seriously and do not tolerate abusive or threatening behaviour on board our aircraft.”
The remaining passengers disembarked and were provided with overnight accommodation and meals in a hotel before departing from Munich for Greece on Wednesday afternoon.
“While this is beyond our control, we apologise for any inconvenience caused,” the airline added.
Last month, Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary called for airports to limit passengers to two alcoholic drinks.
O'Leary believes airports “should limit the amount of alcoholic drinks sold to passengers to two” to reduce incidents of disruptive behaviour on planes. According to the Independent.
“Just like you have to show your boarding pass when you go through to buy cigarettes or alcohol, we believe you should also have to show your boarding pass when buying alcoholic drinks in airport bars and you shouldn't be served more than one alcoholic drink, especially if your flight is delayed,” he said.
Irish ultra-low-cost airline Ryanair and other European airlines have seen a surge in disruptive passengers on board “particularly this summer”, O'Leary said in an interview with the media.
