A traveller has spoken out his "the flight from hell" where the plane had to be diverted after two disruptive passengers had one too many drinks and were allegedly smoking inside the toilets.
Hans Mahrla was flying from Liverpool John Lennon Airport with Easyjet to Tenerife in what he hoped would be a typical, smooth running flight to his first holiday since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. That is until the plane was forced to divert to Lisbon, Portugal, to remove the unruly couple from the plane.
The pair reportedly abused staff and fellow passengers, behaviour which Mr Mahrla, from Ormskirk, described as "shameful", with the rest of the plane experiencing "the flight from hell".
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Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, the 49-year-old said everything seemed to be going just fine and was pleased when the pilot announced they were ahead of schedule.
However, it wasn't long before things took a turn for the worse as a couple sitting several rows behind him began act up after drinking a large number of alcoholic beverages they had purchased from duty free. They also allegedly smoked in the toilet.
"We were making good time and then some time mid flight a couple were obviously drinking too much." Mr Mahrla said. "An announcement was made telling people they should not be drinking duty free stuff and smoking was also prohibited on the plane.
"Next thing we know they closed the toilets at the back of the plane because they found cigarette butts in there. Ten minutes later the pilot said we were landing in Lisbon - the woman started to kick off and threaten other passengers. There was quite a bit of commotion on the plane."
When the plane landed in Lisbon, the rowdy pair were taken away. But as soon as the flight was eventually set to resume an hour-and-a-half later there was more issues to be had.
A "comatose" man who tried to go to the toilet was forced back by staff and ended up urinating all over his seat. Mr Mahrla said it was "pouring down the row behind him". The man's friends stayed behind once the plane had landed to look after him.
Praising Easyjet's crew for remaining "brilliant and very professional" throughout the ordeal, he said they were all "very apologetic" and helped to make passengers 'feel safe on the flight'.
The passengers reportedly clapped and cheered when they landed. Mr Mahrla said: "Everyone just wanted to enjoy the holiday - they didn't want to be held up like that. We were all happy to just land in Tenerife."
A spokesperson for easyJet said: “easyJet can confirm that flight EZY7169 from Liverpool to Tenerife on July 6 diverted to Lisbon and was met by police as a result of two passengers on board behaving disruptively.
“EasyJet’s cabin crew are trained to assess and evaluate all situations and to act quickly and appropriately to ensure that the safety of the flight and other passengers is not compromised at any time.
"Whilst such incidents are rare, we take them very seriously, and do not tolerate abusive or threatening behaviour on board. The safety and wellbeing of customers and crew is our highest priority."
Merseyside Police were also contacted but said responsibility for the passengers fell to the Portuguese authorities.
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