“She slapped him in the face:” Unruly passenger diverts flight after wreaking havoc

Corfu, Greece - September 19, 2020: Jet2 Boeing 737-800 airplane at Corfu airport (CFU) in Greece.

A Jet2 flight from Turkey to Manchester was diverted to Vienna after an unruly passenger slapped a man in the face and caused a ruckus in mid-air.

The female passenger was having a bit more than a moment after she became unruly about halfway through the four-and-a-half-hour flight earlier this week.

A witness told The Daily Mail that the disruptive passenger was ‘aggressive’ towards staff over crying babies on the flight.

After her causing quite the scene and even slapping a fellow passenger, the flight was diverted to the Austrian capital so the woman could be removed. The flight continued on to Antalya two hours later than scheduled.

Another passenger on the flight told the Manchester Evening News the unruly passenger became disruptive “about an hour and 20 minutes” into the flight.

“There was lots of noise,” the passenger, who asked not to be identified, said.

“Then she came to the front of the plane. She was really angry towards Jet2 staff and wouldn’t calm down. Her voice was getting louder and more aggressive – she was shouting in people’s faces.

“People were saying she was kicking off at the airport before she even got on the plane. Then some people said it was over babies crying on the flight.

“A customer said something and she slapped him in the face. Then a man got up to try and calm the situation before taking her to the back of the plane.”

This is when staff made the decision to divert the flight to Vienna, according to the passenger.

The woman was said to have slapped another passenger as she was getting off the flight.

“This is the first time we have had to land because of someone on a flight,” the passenger added.

“Jet2 staff handled the whole situation very well. Nobody could help the out-of-control woman once she slapped the passenger.”

After the incident, Jet2 sent out a text to passengers on the flight, apologising for the incident.

The message said: “Hello, we are sorry that due to the disruptive behaviour of a fellow passenger, your flight has been diverted to Vienna.

“We are working on a situation to get you on your way as soon as possible.”

Jet2 confirmed the incident in a statement and the flight operator confirmed that the flight successfully continued onto Antalya once the passenger left.

A Jet2 spokesperson said: “We can confirm that flight LS895 from Manchester to Antalya diverted to Vienna earlier today so that a disruptive passenger could be offloaded.

“As a family-friendly airline, we take a zero-tolerance approach to disruptive behaviour.”

As annoying as it would be to have your flight diverted, there are a lot worse places to stop by than Vienna.


Featured image: iStock/Boarding1Now

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