A Ryanair passenger called a recent trip from Morocco to the UK a “hellish flight” after the flight was forced to land during “mass fighting” and then cancelled altogether.
The plane bound for London Stansted Airport left the airport within 40 minutes of flying. Fight A heated debate ensued over seating allocation. Sun report.
The altercation reportedly began when a man in his late 20s asked a woman, who was traveling with her daughter, to give up her seat so she could sit closer to her wife and children, and when she refused, he allegedly threatened her.
The flight attendants seemed unaware of the growing tensions among the passengers and the plane took off as normal.
Once the plane reached an altitude of 30,000 feet and the seatbelt lights were switched off, the woman’s husband, who refused to move, was allegedly confronted by another man.
“A fistfight broke out between the two men when Ryanair staff tried to intervene,” the media outlet reported, citing witnesses from other passengers.
A British tourist, who asked not to be named, told the paper that after the men started punching each other “one of the families was in a larger group and other passengers started joining in.”
“Then a woman in the row behind me started having a panic attack because of what was going on. She was screaming, her kids were crying. It just kind of snowballed.”
The disgruntled passenger continued: “We were only in the air for 36 minutes before we had to make an unexpected landing. It was very stressful.”
Another male passenger felt unwell during the on-board scuffle and required oxygen from flight attendants.
“It was a hellish flight and it all started with one passenger asking to change seats,” the anonymous witness added.
While Ryanair staff frantically tried to control the situation and treat sick passengers, the pilot diverted the flight to Marrakech, Morocco.
Once the plane was back on the ground, Moroccan police and medical staff boarded.
Nine people involved in the brawl were arrested and removed from the plane, and doctors deemed the man unfit to fly after the brawl, but he refused to disembark.
The confusion continues, video Obtained By Sun Several passengers were filmed screaming as the protesting man refused to leave and accused authorities of labelling him a “terrorist”.
“They think I’m a terrorist, that’s why they’re bringing the whole army here to take me down,” the enraged man said. “Give me my shit bag and I’ll punch you in the jaw.”
Other passengers yelled at him to get off the plane, and after about two hours, he was finally taken off by police.
It took so long to get all the disturbing passengers off that the crew’s maximum flight time expired, forcing Ryanair to cancel the flight and rebook the approximately 200 remaining passengers on a flight for the following morning.
The airline arranged transport and accommodation, but the next morning’s flight was cancelled again, leaving exhausted passengers unable to make it to London.
Passengers reportedly “booed” the cabin crew when they finally arrived for the third flight, to the UK, which the passengers were scheduled to take.
The remaining travellers did not arrive in London until Thursday evening. Sun.
A Ryanair representative provided the airline’s explanation for the incident in a statement seen by the media.
The flight, from Agadir to London Stansted, was diverted to Marrakech after a small number of passengers caused a disturbance during which another passenger fell ill on board.
The crew had requested medical and police assistance in advance, which was received by the aircraft on arrival in Marrakech.
…
In total it took approximately two hours to treat and remove the disturbed passengers while the remaining passengers remained on board, causing the crew to reach their permitted flight time and delay the flight overnight.
The statement ended with an apology to passengers, with a spokesperson claiming the incident was the result of “a small group of disruptive passengers outside of Ryanair’s control”.
