A passenger was removed from an Air New Zealand flight to Wellington earlier this week after failing to observe the in-flight safety instructions. The incident occurred on Tuesday and involved a “wealthy-looking” couple seated in an exit row. One passenger was removed as a result of this incident.
A passenger was removed from an Auckland-bound Air New Zealand flight from Wellington earlier this week after they reportedly refused to observe the in-flight safety briefing, Stuff.co.nz reports. The incident, which happened on Tuesday, is said to have involved a couple and have occurred on Air New Zealand Flight NZ424.
The pair, who have been described as “wealthy-looking,” was seated in the exit row of the aircraft. However, rather than pay attention to the obligatory safety instructions that came with their chosen seat assignments, the outlet reports that the couple opted to ignore repeated requests from crew that they observe the in-flight video and read the safety card.
A passenger who had been on the flight told the outlet, “The video started playing and the flight attendant held up the card, but the woman started looking down at her book.”
The woman then began to use her phone and the male passenger is reported to have continued to have used his during the safety briefing.
“A flight attendant said very patiently ‘Can you please watch what’s happening because this is the exit row’,” the eyewitness passenger said, adding, “The flight attendant was super kind and kept asking her, but the woman put her fingers in her ears.”
The flight was delayed by 25 minutes due to the pair’s non-compliance, with other passengers on the plane becoming increasingly annoyed by their behavior.
“You’d think they’d be embarrassed or mortified, but they seemed quite chuffed about the whole thing,” the passenger said.
The plane returned to the gate and it appears that a single passenger was removed as a result of the incident. Speaking to The Guardian, a spokesperson for Air New Zealand said, “Police were waiting at the gate when the aircraft returned and the customer disembarked.”
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