A RYANAIR “flight from hell” had to be diverted just 36 minutes into its journey after a “mass brawl” broke out between passengers mid-air.
Shocking footage shows tourists shouting at each other from the other side of the plane as nervous airline staff try to calm them down some 30,000 feet in the air.
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A passenger on board the overnight flight from Agadir to London Stansted said on Wednesday there was a fight between two families during boarding.
It all started when a man, thought to be in his early 20s, asked another passenger to move so he could sit with his wife and young children.
The woman, who was sitting with her own daughter, refused to move – which led the criminal to start threatening her.
The flight took off without any problems, but as soon as the seatbelt signs were activated, the passenger’s husband, reportedly in his 30s, jumped to his wife’s defense.
Punches were reportedly thrown between the two men as Ryanair staff attempted to intervene.
A British man on the flight, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “They were trying to punch each other. One of the families was part of a larger group and other passengers began to participate.
“Then a lady in the back row started having a panic attack because of everything that was happening. She was screaming and there were children crying. It was like a snowball effect.”
The 36-year-old finance worker from Herts added: “We were only in the air for 36 minutes before we had to make an unexpected landing. It was so stressful.
“It was like escaping from hell. And it all escalated from that passenger wanting to change seats.”
When the plane landed in Marrakech, it was met by the Moroccan police, who removed the nine people involved in the scrapping from the plane.
To make matters worse, during the fight, another passenger became ill and had to receive oxygen during the flight.
He was treated by doctors upon landing, who deemed him unfit to fly.
But he refused to get off the aircraft and began abusing the cabin crew.
In the chaotic cell phone footage, he can be heard saying: “They think I’m a terrorist. That’s why they’re bringing the whole army here to bring me down.
“Give me my damn bag. I’m going to hit your jaw, bro.”
Other passengers begged him to leave the plane, before he was finally removed by police.
It took Ryanair staff more than two hours to remove all the disruptive tourists from the aircraft, during which time the crew reached maximum flying hours.
The remaining 200 or so people on board were loaded onto buses and taken to a local hotel for the night, before being booked onto a flight the following morning.
But the second trip was also canceled – meaning they only landed in Stansted on Thursday night.
When the cabin crew finally arrived for the return flight, passengers were filmed booing them.
A Ryanair spokesperson said: “This flight from Agadir to London Stansted was diverted to Marrakesh after a small group of passengers became disruptive and during this time another passenger became ill on board.
“The crew requested medical and police assistance, who received the aircraft upon arrival in Marrakesh.
“The small group of disruptive passengers were then removed from the aircraft by airport police.
“The passenger who fell ill received oxygen on board before being treated by airport doctors, who determined he was unfit to fly.
“This passenger refused to disembark and abused the crew, being removed from the aircraft by airport police.
“As it took almost two hours in total to deal with and disembark these disruptive passengers, during which time the rest of the passengers remained on board, the crew reached the permitted flight time and caused the flight to be delayed overnight.
“Affected passengers were provided overnight accommodation and transportation to/from the airport. This flight left for London the following day.
“We sincerely apologize to passengers for this diversion and subsequent delay caused by a small group of disruptive passengers, which was beyond the control of Ryanair.”
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
