The man allegedly became threatening after repeatedly shouting about snakes on the plane – with pilots on the flight from London to Marrakech, Morocco, deciding to make an emergency landing in Faro
An easyJet flight was forced to make an emergency landing after a passenger was convinced there were snakes loose on the plane. The man, dressed in a snake print T-shirt, is thought to have been hallucinating, reportedly shouting: “Snakes on a plane! We need to land!”.
A source said it soon became clear that the passenger was allegedly under the influence and “imagining things”. They said: “It sounds funny to hear a passenger screaming ‘Snakes on the Plane!’ but it was incredibly scary for the families on the easyJet flight. No-one quite knew what was going on, or initially if the flyer had actually seen a snake loose among the cabin at 30,000ft.”
The man then allegedly became threatening, forcing pilots on the flight from Gatwick airport to Marrakech, Morocco, on Saturday afternoon to make an emergency landing in Faro.
On arrival, local police were stood waiting on the runway and then lead the man off the aircraft. The 190-passenger plane then departed again, continuing its journey to Marrakech, and landing eight hours after taking off from London – more than double the original flight duration, The Sun reported.
It comes just months after another easyJet passenger was removed from a plane for unleashing a vile, racist rant onboard. The woman, aged in her 50s, was forced off the flight from Belfast to Manchester in January after she began spewing hate and offensive slurs towards fellow passengers.
Eyewitness Shauna Corr, 44, described the incident, saying: “The lady involved was a few rows in front of me – I felt very sorry for the couple sat behind her and children on the flight.” She continued: “Her language was atrocious and racist, she was making very derogatory comments about people including Muslims – at one stage she even struck out at Ukrainian people.”
Fellow travellers and cabin crew condemned the woman’s behaviour, with a steward even warning her they may have to call the police due to her foul language. But despite being reprimanded, the woman continued on with her hateful rant. She was then finally escorted off the aircraft. Recalling the chaos, Shauna said: “She was just kicking off but I think the stewards handled it really well – it was quite disgusting behaviour.”
The aggressive passenger’s antics reportedly began mid-flight, where she had stolen a packet of Tayto crisps from a crew member without making payment.