The issue started before take-off.
A fight broke out between passengers onboard a Ryanair flight to London forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing, as per a report in the New York Post. The incident began after a man asked to switch his seat. The chaos erupted at 30,000 feet in the air on July 4 as the flight from Agadir, Morocco, headed for London Stansted Airport. As terrified airline staff attempted to calm the passengers, shocking footage showed individuals yelling at one another from across the aircraft.
The issue started before take-off when a man in his late 20s asked a woman seated with her daughter if he could take her seat so he could be with his wife and children. The woman did not agree to change her seat, which prompted the man to start threatening her.
The Ryanair pilots took off on schedule, oblivious to the brewing tensions within the cabin. When the plane reached cruising altitude and the seat belt indicator was switched off, the husband of the female passenger who was asked to change seats came to her defence.
A passenger on the aircraft said, “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. She was screaming and there were kids crying. It was like a snowball effect.”
Notably, the aircraft was in the air for only 36 minutes when it was forced to make 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,” he added.
A male passenger became unwell during the frenzy, and the cabin crew had to give him oxygen before landing. The Ryanair flight arrived in Marrakech, Morocco, where police boarded the plane and arrested nine people engaged in the fight before removing them. The passenger who became unwell was evaluated by doctors, who determined he was unsuitable to travel. However, he refused to get off the plane and started losing his cool, allegedly being disrespectful to the cabin personnel. He was later removed by the cops.
The ordeal didn’t end for more than two hours. Unfortunately for the 200 passengers who were still on board, the incidents had caused the Ryanair crew to exceed their allotted flying hours. The passengers were sent to a nearby hotel for the night and then booked onto a flight the next morning. However, the morning flight was also cancelled, and the passengers arrived at Stansted Airport on Thursday evening, according to the outlet.
A Ryanair spokesperson confirmed that the “flight from Agadir to London Stansted diverted to Marrakesh after a small group of passengers became disruptive, and during which time another passenger became ill onboard.” They added, “Crew called ahead for both medical and police assistance, which met the aircraft upon arrival at Marrakesh. The small group of disruptive passengers were then removed from the aircraft by airport gendarmerie.”
“The passenger who became ill was provided with oxygen onboard before being treated by airport medics, who determined that they were not fit to fly. This passenger refused to disembark and became abusive towards crew, and was removed from the aircraft by airport gendarmerie,” they continued. The representative for the airline acknowledged that the more than two-hour delay was due to “disruptive passengers,” and that passengers were given overnight accommodations and transportation before the aircraft taking departure the next day.
