A drunk passenger allegedly caused such chaos on a recent easyJet flight that the pilots were forced to make an emergency landing. New York Post reported.
Flight U28235 departed London’s Gatwick Airport on Tuesday afternoon, bound for Kos International Airport in Greece. Shortly after takeoff, the plane encountered turbulence, which allegedly caused significant discomfort to a passenger who had consumed several whiskey cocktails.
As seen in videos shared on social media, the unidentified man got up from his seat while the plane was cruising at 30,000 feet and began berating other passengers, calling the Airbus A320 “garbage.” After exchanging harsh words with several passengers, the man reportedly broke the plane's intercom system and struggled with the flight crew before being forced back into his seat and taken into custody. The whole incident was so devastating that the pilots were forced to divert to Germany, landing at Munich International Airport one hour and 44 minutes after takeoff.
In a video shared on TikTok, law enforcement can be seen boarding the plane and detaining the man, as the cabin boos loudly. “Get down, loser!” one passenger shouts from the back of the plane, flashing his middle finger.
@charlotte_keen1 Live emergency landing in Munich #fyp #easyjet #travel
♬ original sound – Charlotte
In a statement New Year PartyeasyJet confirmed the incident was the result of “a passenger behaving in a disruptive manner on board”. The statement continued: “Safety is easyJet's top priority and our cabin crew are trained to assess and act quickly and appropriately in all situations to ensure the safety of the flight and other passengers is never compromised. While such incidents are rare, we take them very seriously and do not tolerate abusive or threatening behaviour on board.”
Last week, Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary said that to prevent such incidents, airports should limit the sale of alcohol to passengers, with passengers only allowed to have two drinks before boarding.
“It's not that easy for airlines to spot people who are drunk at the gate, especially if they're boarding with two or three other people,” O'Leary explained. “As long as they can get up and move around, they can get by. Then once the plane takes off, we see the inappropriate behavior.
“We don't want to be against people drinking,” O'Leary continued. “But we don't allow people to drink [and] “We're driving, but we're continuing to put them in aircraft at 33,000 feet.”