Taunting passengers on a Ryan Air flight from Spain made it clear they were pleased to see the last of an allegedly intoxicated woman responsible for forcing the flight into making an unscheduled stop.
A Ryan Air flight from Alicante–Elche Airport (ALC) to Dublin Airport (DUB) was forced to divert to Santander Airport (SDR) in northern Spain when a bickering couple reportedly became aggressive during the journey. Though passengers on the detoured plane were clearly not happy with the resulting delay, many of the affected travelers made a point to spontaneously and loudly celebrate when police arrived to escort the offending passengers from the aircraft.
“A woman suddenly got up and began to shout at an air stewardess,” one eyewitness on the flight told a local television station. “She had been drinking a lot at Alicante airport and was drunk. She began to get up and shout when she was on the plane. The crew tried to calm her down but couldn’t. We were then told to stay in our seats and put our seatbelts on but this woman carried on shouting as if she was mad and an idiot and in the end, we were informed we were landing at Santander so she could be removed.”
Although both the woman and her partner were both removed from the plane at SDR, cellphone footage of the in-flight incident indicates that the allegedly intoxicated woman may have been the primary aggressor.
“Excuse me, do I have to answer to her to go to the toilet?” the unidentified Irish woman can be heard shouting at cabin crew members in a rambling and sometimes incoherent diatribe. “You thought that we were dealing drugs? You dirty little scum, yes you did. An Irish person would never do that. No, only if they’re dirt and filth.”
The footage also captures fellow passengers cheering as the couple is removed from the plane by security forces at SDR. As some passengers applaud the couple’s departure, still others can be heard jeering the ejected woman with chants of “adios” and “goodbye, see you tomorrow.”
Fortunately, passengers’ initial jubilant reaction to the delay never had a chance to veer towards frustration. According to Spanish officials, the unplanned pitstop was mercifully brief.
“The aircraft touched down around 4 pm yesterday and left again for Dublin at 5 pm local time,” a Civil Guard spokesperson told the Irish Mirror. “The pilot asked us to attend because he didn’t want two people who were on the plane and being aggressive to continue their journey. The couple left the aircraft voluntarily after we went on board and did not have to be removed by force.”