easyJet flight EZY8556 from Antalya in Turkey to Gatwick was diverted to Bari in Italy on Friday night when a passenger “behaved disruptively and threatened to stab crew”
An easyJet flight was thrown into chaos when a teenage girl allegedly attempted to open the plane door mid-flight and threatened to stab staff.
The horrifying incident forced the budget airline to divert from Gatwick to Bari in Italy on Friday night, December 27. The drama unfolded when an unruly teen reportedly lost her cool at a child coughing loudly.
Passengers Nadine, 39, and her daughter Jernai, 19, who were travelling from Antalya to Gatwick, described it as a “flight from hell” that ruined their Christmas following a relaxing holiday, according to The Sun. Nadine said: “We were all nice and relaxed, but then it turned to hell on the flight home. It’s ruined my Christmas.
“This 16-year-old was about four rows behind me and she was sitting next to a little girl who was about 10 started coughing and she told her to stop. She was trying to open the door and she broke the handle. The crew members pulled her away and restrained her..
“She was surrounded by all the crew members but one tried to calm her down. She started screaming on the plane and she threatened to stab a crew member. At one point she took off her shoes and threw them at passengers. Everyone was so nervous.”
easyJet confirmed the diverted flight was met by police in Bari due to a “passenger behaving disruptively onboard”. A spokesperson for the airline said: “Flight EZY8556 from Antalya to London Gatwick on 27th December diverted to Bari. It was met by police due to a passenger behaving disruptively onboard.
“EasyJet’s cabin crew are trained to assess and evaluate all situations and acted quickly and appropriately to ensure that the safety of the flight and other passengers was not compromised at any time. While such incidents are rare we take them very seriously and do not tolerate abusive or threatening behaviour onboard.
“As this led to the crew feeling unfit to operate, the flight was delayed overnight and scheduled to operate the following day. The safety and wellbeing of our passengers and crew is always easyJet’s priority.”
“While this was outside of our control, we are sorry for the inconvenience this will have caused.”
