Footage shows a Ryanair plane coming into land with cabin crew telling passengers to sit down on a flight which had to be diverted en route from Birmingham to Agadir due to trouble on board
Passengers led off plane by police from Ryanair flight
“Disruptive” passengers forced a Ryanair flight to be diverted and footage shows the moment crew asks for people to sit as the plane came in to land.
A passenger filmed the commotion after a “small group” of people onboard caused disruption onboard the flight from Birmingham Airport to Agadir in Morocco. The pilot was forced to land in Faro, Portugal, where police were waiting to escort several people off the aircraft.
The remaining passengers then carried on their journey to Agadir on Wednesday, March 19. In the footage, a cabin crew member says: “Sit down, sit down. Sit down now.
“We are landing sit down, it’s dangerous.” The pilot later says: “Ladies and gentlemen, please remain in your seats. Someone can then be heard swearing as they speak about paying money.
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A police van can then be seen waiting near the plane, and officers escort passengers into the vehicle. Ryanair has since apologised to customers following the inconvenience, reported BirminghamLive.
A spokesperson said that they had a “strict zero-tolerance policy towards passenger misconduct.” In a statement to BirminghamLive, they added: “This flight from Birmingham to Agadir (March 19) diverted to Faro after a small group of passengers became disruptive onboard.
“The crew called ahead for police assistance, who met the aircraft upon landing at Faro Airport and offloaded these passengers before this flight continued to Agadir.
“Ryanair has a strict zero-tolerance policy towards passenger misconduct and will continue to take decisive action to combat unruly passenger behaviour, ensuring that all passengers and crew travel in a safe and respectful environment, without unnecessary disruption.”
They continued: “We sincerely apologise to passengers for any inconvenience caused as a result of these unruly passengers’ behaviour, which was beyond Ryanair’s control.”
Meanwhile amid the travel disruption with Heathrow Airport remaining closed due to a power outage, other airlines including easyJet and Ryanair are responding to the disruption.
Airlines such as easyJet and Ryanair do not travel to and from Heathrow, but the added disruption to the aviation sector due to the airport’s closure has pushed them to step in and offer support to travellers. As many people look for ways to still go on or return from their holiday, budget airlines have introduced measures to limit disruption.
Ryanair has responded to the disruption by adding eight ‘rescue flights’ between Dublin and London Stansted, with four today and a further four tomorrow, which are now available to be booked.
While a spokesperson from easyJet told the Mirror: “EasyJet is putting larger aircraft on key routes today and over the weekend to provide additional seats to help customers affected by the Heathrow closure travel today. A number of key routes between the UK and Milan, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Paris, Munich and Madrid will have 186 seat A320 aircraft operating instead of the smaller 156 A319 aircraft. easyJet does not operate to or from Heathrow and so our flights are all operating as normal.”