A 79-year-old grandmother was escorted off a Jet2 flight by armed police after she refused to pay for a tuna sandwich she claimed was “frozen” and “soggy”.
The airline has claimed she was “disruptive” on board the flight and consumed her own alcohol on board, but she has firmly refuted this claim.
The grandmother from Hertfordshire, named Lily Ifield, was flying from London Stansted to Bodrum in Turkey for a four-day birthday holiday with her daughter on November 3 when the incident happened.
She ordered a tuna baguette but said that when it arrived it was “frozen” and “wet and soggy” and she refused to pay for it.
She claimed cabin crew said she must pay for it as she had opened the packet.
She said she had slept for most of the flight, but that crew members kept waking up to ask her to pay for the sandwich.
On arrival at Bodrum, she said passengers were asked to remain seated, while she and her daughter were told to exit the plane.
"They called the police. Not one... but four police at the end, at the door,” she told The JVS Show on BBC Three Counties Radio, describing the experience as “just awful”.
She told The Sun: “The police were standing at the entrance to the plane, waiting with guns like we were master criminals.
“We had no idea what we had done. I was turning round to people, saying ‘I think I’ve been arrested over a sandwich’.
“The steward said, ‘will you shut up’ he said, ‘I don’t want you talking’. I said ‘excuse me, I can talk as much as I like’. We were being treated like convicts over a bap.
“My daughter was saying, ‘perhaps someone has put drugs in our luggage mum’. We were shaking.”
She said they were “frog-marched miles through the airport”, though she needs a knee replacement and uses a walking stick.
She and her daughter were asked to present their passports, before the officers eventually said “just go”.
“We were so upset we just stayed in our room for four days,” Lily told The Sun.
“We felt sick with worry. It ruined our holiday. All over a flipping tuna sandwich. No-one would have eaten that.”
Lily's daughter reportedly emailed Jet2 to complain about the “upsetting” incident.
In a response to the BBC, a Jet2 spokesperson said: “We can confirm that [she] displayed a catalogue of disruptive behaviour on board flight LS1609 from London Stansted to Bodrum including the unauthorised consumption of her own alcohol that she had brought on board.
"As a result, police met the aircraft on arrival at Bodrum to escort [her] and her daughter off the aircraft.
"As a family-friendly airline, we take a zero-tolerance approach to such behaviour, and we make it very clear that customers cannot consume their own alcohol on flights.
"We will always support our crew in instances when they are subjected to rude or unpleasant behaviour while prioritising the safety and comfort of all passengers and crew."
Lily has denied consuming her own alcohol on board, describing Jet2’s claim “a terrible, disgusting lie”.
She said she and her daughter had shared four mini bottles of wine which they bought on board the flight.
"I don't know what they're talking about," she told the BBC.
"I think they're so embarrassed over this sandwich and the police and the way we were treated.
"They are the ones that behaved disgustingly and disturbed me all the way through the flight."
Jet2 has been approached by The Standard.
