A Ryanair flight from Palma, Majorca to Manchester descended into chaos this week, after a passenger snuck onto the plane without a ticket. One passenger, who had been travelling with her partner and 10-year-old granddaughter, said that it became a "fiasco", with people even speculating about a bomb threat.
Barbara Watson, from Stockport in Greater Manchester, had been to Majorca with her family and was on the flight back home on Thursday, August 4. The 64-year-old said that it was an "absolute fiasco", as people were stuck on the plane while staff tried to figure out who the rogue passenger was.
A passenger from the previous flight had managed to sneak back onto the plane without a ticket, but the pilot stopped the plane from taking off after noticing that numbers were not adding up. Barbara said: "The flight that came in, everyone got off board and one person stayed on the bridge and was hiding. When we all got onto the bridge, he mingled around with us and got back on board.
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"The stewardesses told us that he was hiding on board out of view of them, waiting to see which seat was free. He sat in the seat, we got on the runway and the pilot stopped the flight and told us we'd have to go back to the gate as the numbers weren't adding up, the MEN reports.
"The senior steward asked to see his boarding pass but obviously he didn't have one because he'd come out on the flight and got back on, for whatever reason no one knows. Then someone came on and arrested him."
But the confusion led to other passengers being stuck on the plane for a while, not knowing what was going on. And Barbara was worried about the welfare of her 76-year-old partner, who is terminally ill and at risk of having a second heart attack.
She said: "Everyone was getting a bit worried and thinking had he [the rogue passenger] left anything on board. The pilot said to us all 'can everybody stand up now and take all your luggage out of the overhead boxes and put it on the seat where you're sitting'.
"Loads of kids were crying, including my 10-year-old granddaughter because she heard someone say there could be a bomb onboard. Stewardesses searched all lockers, told everyone to put their own luggage back up.
"Everyone was out of their mind with worry and stewards had to come with jugs of water for everybody stuck there with engine roaring. It was an absolute fiasco.
"My partner was at the side of me. He has terminal cancer and has had a heart attack. He was using his spray and I had to calm him down so he didn't have another."
But Barbara has praised the actions of the captain, whom she said was "great". She added: "He came over and told us he'd been arrested and that they didn't know why he'd done it but he'd been acting suspiciously. It was a fantastic holiday so it's a shame that it had a bad ending."
The flight eventually departed at 6.39pm, an hour and 20 minutes after it was supposed to. Ryanair have confirmed that police assistance was requested and apologised to passengers. The airline also said that it will "ensure that this error doesn’t reoccur".
A Ryanair spokesman said: "The crew of this flight from Palma to Manchester (04 Aug) requested police assistance ahead of take off after identifying a passenger that was not booked to travel on this flight. The passenger was removed and the crew carried out security checks again ahead of take-off, as per Ryanair procedure.
"We are working with our handling agents in Palma to ensure that this error doesn’t reoccur. Ryanair sincerely apologises to affected passengers for any inconvenience caused."
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