Holidaymakers were left fearing for their lives on a TUI flight after an "intoxicated passenger" allegedly made threats to families before attempting to open the emergency exit in mid-air. The flight from Paphos to Manchester, which had already been delayed due to staffing issues, had to be diverted to Zagreb in Coatia due to the "disruptive passenger".
The man was seen taking a substance akin to cocaine on the plane and praying on the floor, before making threats towards others onboard and cabin crew. Families were reportedly heard screaming in terror when he tried to open the emergency exit, before fellow passengers were able to restrain him, according to the Mirror.
After the flight landed to Zagreb airport in the early hours of August 16, customers claim they were then left stranded for several hours. Another flight was scheduled to take passengers back to Manchester Airport in the evening, with TUI confirming that the disruptive passenger was banned from boarding.
One passenger, named Kirsty, was sitting with her husband and two children when the chaos unfolded. She described the shocking incident as the "most frightening experience of my life".
Her family had already been put up in a hotel the night before due to their original flight to Manchester on August 14 being delayed, as the crew had "reached their regulated hours".
Speaking to the MEN, she said: "TUI allowed an intoxicated and aggressive passenger on our flight. We all felt scared when he first arrived on the plane but flight attendants were still serving him drinks. We watched the passenger take cocaine and try to open the plane door. I honestly thought my life was going to be taken. This passenger pointed at me and my children and told us that he would 'see us in heaven'.
"As he crouched on the floor praying I screamed for help. The only help I received was from my husband who took matters into his own hands to defend and protect everyone on this flight."
After landing in Croatia at 1am, Kirsty said there was nobody there to greet passengers and claimed they were left for a number of hours without being provided any food or drink.
"We were left sitting on the airport floor since the early hours of the morning and have now finally been taken to a hotel 20 minutes away from the airport," she said. "We have just received a message saying we should be flying back to Manchester at 7.30pm tonight."
James Rawcliffe, 38, had been sitting at the front of the plane with his wife and daughter, who has autism, when he noticed a commotion towards the back of the plane.
"They said they were going to turn the lights off so people could sleep but then they suddenly went back on and you could see something was happening at the back of the plane," he said. "There were a lot of people going towards the guy and trying to calm him down.
"As time went on there was an off-duty police officer and he went forward with another volunteer to try and calm the guy down. He was getting on his knees and said 'I will see you all in heaven', then he went towards the door to try and open it before three of the guys jumped on him. There was screaming, crying and just blind panic."
A spokesperson for TUI said: "We’re very sorry to all customers impacted by the delay to TOM2731 and subsequent diversion due to a disruptive passenger. Unfortunately due to ongoing disruption with the aviation ecosystem, the original flight was delayed overnight as crew had reached their regulated hours.
"Our TUI reps supported customers throughout and the airport and the flight departed on Monday, August 15, in the evening. The health and safety of our customers and crew is always our highest priority and due to a disruptive passenger the flight was forced to divert to Zagreb, Croatia.
"The passenger was offloaded, was met by Police will not travel with TUI when the flight departs later today. We take a zero-tolerance approach to disruptive behaviour on our flights. We understand how frustrating this additional delay will be for our customers and apologise for the on-going delay they now face.
"We have a TUI team supporting customers in Croatia, we have kept them updated with regular communication, have sourced accommodation and provided meals and refreshments. We thank customers for their understanding and patience and would like to reassure customers that instances like this are extremely rare."
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