A drunk passenger on board a WizzAir flight was escorted off the plane after it diverted to Greece – with travellers claiming she shouted abuse at flight crew and refused to sit down
A pilot was forced to divert a packed Wizz Air plane after an alleged nightmare passenger caused a disturbance after “had been drinking all flight”.
The lady, thought to be in her late 40s, is said to have become unruly just two hours into the journey. The plane took off at London Gatwick at 2.26pm and was set to arrive at Hurghada, Egypt, at around 9.25pm local time. However, passengers said the woman switched seats with another person on the plane and started swearing at flight staff.
The flight was meant to be five hours, but holidaymakers were forced to divert their route on Wednesday. Around two and half hours later, the plane had to make a U-turn and travel back towards Athens, Greece. Shocking footage showed cops escorting onto the plane after the pilot warned the woman on the tannoy to calm down
Passengers were “booing” the woman as she was escorted off the plane, reports Mail Online. They had to wait two hours on the ground until everything was sorted for them to take off again. Passenger Micheal Hands, 58, who was onboard the plane with his girlfriend, told the publication: “This woman had clearly been drinking all flight and maybe the crew shouldn’t have carried on serving her as it probably led to her kicking off.”
He continued: “To be fair to the crew they did their best but in the end, it just got too much and the captain came on the tannoy and said: ‘If the unruly passenger doesn’t return to hers eat in two minutes we are making an emergency landing.
“Of course, there was some booing and jeering at the woman, but nothing happened and in the end, we landed at Athens and the police came onboard and took her off – much to everyone’s delight.” A spokesperson for Wizz Air said they are looking to take legal action against the passenger.
They told The Mirror: “We can confirm that a passenger aboard our W9 5777 London Gatwick – Hurghada flight on the 12th of March had to be removed from the flight due to inappropriate behaviour towards our crew. This passenger’s inexcusable conduct forced this flight to divert to Athens where it was delayed for a short time before going on to the destination.
“This then further disrupted the return flight from Hurghada back to London because of crew duty time limitations. The safety and security of our passengers and crew is our number one priority. Wizz Air has a strict policy against harassment and passenger misconduct and will continue to take a zero-tolerance approach to ensure the safety and security of everyone aboard our flights.
“Wizz Air will be looking to take legal action against this passenger due to the unnecessary disruption caused to our customers. It is completely unacceptable that passengers who work hard to enjoy a trip away are negatively impacted due to one passenger’s failure to behave.”