The passenger was also wearing “no less than 15 masks” over his mouth, and at one point, announced “Trump is here” before the plane was forced to divert, according to a fellow passenger
There was panic in the skies when a passenger wearing over a dozen facemasks began screaming that gay people were giving him cancer, before declaring that “the plane is going down”.
The incident took place last friday onboard a Sun Country Airlines plane which was flying from Minneapolis to Newark in New Jersey. But the aircraft was forced to divert as a result of the unruly traveller.
Fellow passenger Seth Evans was sitting across the aisle, and he told the Minnesota Star Tribune that trouble began the moment the plane took off, when the man started raving about being “gang chased” by gay people.
He screamed he was being “radiated” and “cooked” by gays, and that they were giving him cancer, said the witness, who also revealed that the man was wearing “no less than 15 masks” over his mouth, and at one point, announced “Trump is here.”
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Furthermore, Evans said, in between his screaming outbursts,the passenger would buckle down and play a round of Candy Crush, before standing up and shouting again at top volume.
Once on the ground at O’Hare International Airport, the man was handcuffed and hauled off by Chicago police, according to the New York Post. Passengers were questioned by US Marshals before the plane took off again and completed its journey to Jersey.
“The flight landed without incident and the passenger in question was turned over to law enforcement and removed from the aircraft,” Sun Country airline told the Tribune. “We appreciate our passengers’ patience during the interruption to their travels.”
It comes after a drunk Jet2 passenger caused a holiday flight to be diverted after spitting on a fellow traveller.
READ MORE: ‘My flight had to make emergency Gatwick landing after passenger’s selfish act’
Courtney Maich, 27, was being dragged off the aircraft by German police when she launched the “disgraceful and disgusting” attack on a mother of a child. Maich and her partner Alannah O’Neill, 28, had departed from Edinburgh Airport bound for Dalaman when the duo started consuming their own booze.
The pair, both from Dundee, refused to cease their shouting and swearing despite repeated requests from cabin crew, with Maich even receiving a written warning from the captain regarding her conduct.
Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard the couple’s antics compelled the captain to divert to Cologne roughly 90 minutes into the journey, where Maich was removed from the aircraft, reports the Daily Record.
Fiscal depute Eilidh Gunn revealed that Maich was asked to move as she was in the wrong seat but became aggressive towards the cabin crew shortly after take off around 4pm on 8 October last year.
Gunn stated: “German police then boarded the flight and in the process of removing Maich off the plane she spat at one of the passengers who was with her husband and seven-year-old son.
“The spit landed on her body, and she also shouted ‘f*** you all’ towards the passengers.”
Footage of Maich being arrested and escorted off the flight was widely shared on social media following the incident.