Airline Flight Brawl Over Seating Leads to Forced Landing, Cancellations and Arrests

Clear Facts

• A Ryanair flight from Morocco to the U.K. was forced to land less than 40 minutes after takeoff due to a brawl over seat assignments.
• The altercation began when a man requested a woman’s seat so he could sit closer to his family. When she declined, a fight broke out, leading to panic and a medical emergency among passengers.
• The flight was eventually canceled, and nine people involved in the fight were arrested. Ryanair attributed the incident to a small group of disruptive passengers.

A recent Ryanair flight from Morocco to the U.K. has been described as a “flight from hell” by passengers, after the flight was diverted and eventually canceled because of a violent altercation that began over seating arrangements.

The man who started the argument, reportedly in his late 20s, asked another passenger if he could take her seat to be closer to his family. After she refused, threats were allegedly made by the man, a detail that was not known to the cabin crew prior to takeoff.

When the flight reached altitude and the seatbelt signs were switched off, a physical confrontation ensued. The woman’s husband confronted the man who had made the request. Based on witness accounts, punches were thrown between the two men while Ryanair staff tried to control the situation.

“One of the families was part of a larger group so other passengers started to join in,” said an anonymous British traveler. The witness described the escalating chaos, saying, “Then a woman in the row behind began to have a panic attack because of everything going on. She was screaming and there were kids crying. It was like a snowball effect.”

“We were only in the air for 36 minutes before we had to make an unplanned landing. It was extremely stressful,” the witness continued. Amidst the brawl, another male passenger became unwell, requiring oxygen from flight staff. He later remarked, “It was like the flight from hell. And it all escalated from that one passenger wanting to change seats.”

The Ryanair crew made efforts to defuse the situation and provide assistance to the ill passenger, but ultimately decided to divert the flight to Marrakesh, Morocco. Moroccan police and medics were called onto the plane when it landed, and they arrested and removed nine people thought to have been involved in the fight.

The situation became even more complicated when a man who had suffered a medical event during the fight refused to disembark after being deemed unfit to fly. The man accused authorities of assuming he was a “terrorist,” which led to an additional two-hour delay as they tried to remove him from the plane.

Due to the time taken to manage the disruptive passengers and treat the ill man, the crew’s maximum flight time had passed, and Ryanair was forced to cancel the flight. The approximately 200 other passengers were rebooked on a flight the following morning, which was also subsequently canceled.

When the cabin crew arrived for the third attempt at the flight, they were reportedly “booed” by the passengers. The weary travelers finally arrived in London on Thursday evening.

In a statement, a Ryanair representative said, “This flight from Agadir to London Stansted was diverted to Marrakesh after a small group of passengers became disruptive, and during which another passenger became ill onboard.” The representative added, “Crew called ahead for both medical and police assistance, which met the aircraft upon arrival at Marrakesh.”

Ryanair concluded the statement with an apology to the passengers, placing the blame on “a small group of disruptive passengers, which was beyond Ryanair’s control.”

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