Sussex Police had to arrest one male passenger on a recent easyJet flight from Faro, Portugal, to Gatwick, London, U.K., after he locked himself in the bathroom and forced the pilot to abort the scheduled landing.
The plane did make it to the gate eventually, but with a 40+-minute delay, the Daily Mail reports. It also has video of the moment when the man is taken away in handcuffs by 3 police officers and one passenger helping them subdue him.
Tom Porter, who was on the plane, tells the publication that the man had been quiet all flight. However, minutes before landing and right after the pilot informed passengers they were beginning to descend, he asked to use the bathroom. He locked himself there for almost 15 minutes, during which time flight attendants tried talking him out of there.
When they eventually convinced him to go back to his seat, it was too late: the cabin had not been secured in time and the pilot had to abort the landing. The man was furious, too, yelling at everyone that he wasn’t allowed to relieve himself.
“He was this angry, wild animal, and didn't want taming,” Porter says. “He was obviously really angry when the air stewards blocked him from locking himself in the bathroom after he knew police were coming.”
When he heard the police would meet him on the plane upon landing, he tried to run and seek cover in the bathroom two more times. A flight attendant was able to prevent him from doing it.
EasyJet confirms to the Mail that one passenger had to be forcibly removed from the plane for causing a 40+-minute delay to the flight with his disruptive behavior.
Sussex Police identifies him as 44-year-old Kieran Crowley and that he was arrested and charged with “using threatening or abusive words or behavior which were racially aggravated, behaving in a threatening, abusive, insulting or disorderly manner towards a member of aircraft crew, two counts of assault on an emergency worker (two police officers) and assault on an emergency worker (a police officer) in the exercise of their duty.”
Tom Porter, who was on the plane, tells the publication that the man had been quiet all flight. However, minutes before landing and right after the pilot informed passengers they were beginning to descend, he asked to use the bathroom. He locked himself there for almost 15 minutes, during which time flight attendants tried talking him out of there.
When they eventually convinced him to go back to his seat, it was too late: the cabin had not been secured in time and the pilot had to abort the landing. The man was furious, too, yelling at everyone that he wasn’t allowed to relieve himself.
“He was this angry, wild animal, and didn't want taming,” Porter says. “He was obviously really angry when the air stewards blocked him from locking himself in the bathroom after he knew police were coming.”
When he heard the police would meet him on the plane upon landing, he tried to run and seek cover in the bathroom two more times. A flight attendant was able to prevent him from doing it.
EasyJet confirms to the Mail that one passenger had to be forcibly removed from the plane for causing a 40+-minute delay to the flight with his disruptive behavior.
Sussex Police identifies him as 44-year-old Kieran Crowley and that he was arrested and charged with “using threatening or abusive words or behavior which were racially aggravated, behaving in a threatening, abusive, insulting or disorderly manner towards a member of aircraft crew, two counts of assault on an emergency worker (two police officers) and assault on an emergency worker (a police officer) in the exercise of their duty.”