Video clips of a rowdy "OAP" hitting a member of Jet2 staff during a flight from Manchester Airport to Rhodes have been shared on TikTok.
The footage, which focuses on a grey-haired woman roughly in her 70s, shows the woman getting irritated, with another passenger saying her frustration started after the pensioner had her request for free champagne declined. The situation escalated until she struck a member of staff twice, and the flight was forced to divert to Munich to offload the woman to police.
Passengers on the flight, which flew out last Wednesday, August 26, claim the woman's anger started when she was told she couldn't have free champagne, prompting her to order a gin and tonic. Then, onlookers say the drink was taken away by members of the cabin crew after she continued to be aggressive.
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According to The Mirror, a male member of staff went over to try and speak with the woman, before having to try and restrain her arms when she violently flails them around. He went to sit down next to her before having to leap to his feet as the woman lashed out again, hitting him across the head.
The woman then smacked her head on the overhead locker, before reaching out and smacking the man across the face TWICE. Another member of staff came over to help restrain the woman, who fell back into her seat before the clip ended. One of the passengers on the flight, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Mirror that the woman also urinated in her seat before she was escorted off the plane by nine police officers.
They said: "A woman on the flight repeatedly asked the flight attendants for free champagne. The flight attendant told the woman that wasn't part of the service and she bought a gin and tonic in the end." At this point, the woman reportedly began to get aggressive, which prompted the flight attendant to remove her drink. The witness said the woman had started swearing and had violent outbursts.
At one point she got up and tried to open the cabin door mid-flight before two male passengers had to hold her down when she tried to punch other people, they claimed. They added: "She urinated over three seats and repeatedly had bursts of violent episodes until we had to make an emergency landing in Munich.
"Upon arrival at Munich she was escorted off the plane by around 9 police officers along with an ambulance and fire services. We were in Germany for over two hours. Jet2 handled this situation really well and the captain of the plane gave everyone complimentary drinks."
A Jet2 spokesperson said: "We can confirm that flight LS819 from Manchester to Rhodes was diverted to Munich Airport so that a disruptive passenger could be offloaded. We would like to apologise to customers for this unforeseen delay and any inconvenience caused.
"The health and safety of our colleagues and customers remains our number one priority and, as a family friendly airline, we take a zero-tolerance approach to disruptive behaviour. We will not hesitate to vigorously pursue any costs incurred as a result of this diversion."
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