A RYANAIR flight, which overran to four times its scheduled length, descended into a nightmare following a drunken brawl, a mid-air “mutiny” and two diversions.
On June 3, a three-hour flight from London Stansted to stretched into a miserable 12-hour ordeal, with infuriated passengers receiving minimal updates.
The flight on June 3 descended into chaos after it was diverted twice Credit: PA
Travellers reportedly staged a “mutiny” against the captain after hours of confusion. Credit: Getty
Flight RK8288 was diverted to Italy and then Greece before finally touching down in the Albanian capital at 5am local time.
Travellers reportedly staged a “mutiny” against the captain after hours of disgruntled confusion.
Trouble began when the plane got caught in a terrifying thunderstorm – ultimately forcing the pilot to perform two diversions.
Passengers were left in the dark until approximately four hours after take-off, when they were told over the speaker that instead of , the flight was approaching an airport in Brindisi, .
The plane was grounded on the tarmac for up to three hours.
Finally the pilot then announced that the plane was ready to take-off again – this time to Tirana, Albania – or so they thought.
Ten minutes before landing, the pilot says they were actually about to land in Thessaloniki in Greece.
A Serbian man who was sucked into air ‘sucked up to his shoulders’ out a cabin window after it was smashed open Credit: RThess.GR
An engine failure causes window to break on flight from Thessaloniki. Credit: RThess.GR
A source told the Daily Mail that’s when everyone lost their minds and is when the “mutiny” began.
Anger turned on the pilot, with a group of men aggressively heckling him from outside the cockpit.
They shouted: “He’s a coward, the pilot needs to come out and face us like a man.”
Around a dozen disgruntled tourists demanded to leave the aircraft when it landed in Greece, after the hours of confusion and disappointment.
They shouted: “There’s no way you can keep us here.”
Greek were eventually called onto the plane, and reportedly told the crew to let the tourists leave.
Following the third take- off, one man threw up on himself just before the aircraft and ran to the toilet – returning moments later, shirtless.
One restless passenger, described as “clearly hammered”, ignored instruction to stay in his seat and began to walk around the plane, leading to an air hostess having to “wrestle him back to his seat.”
The source said: “She literally grabs him, picks him up like a child, and pushes him back down to his seat… it was mental.”
Eventually, the plane managed to land in Tirana at around 5am local time, and the pilot said: “Welcome to Albania.”
Everyone in the aircraft cheered, grateful they had finally arrived at their destination in one piece.
The source said: “We were so dead, so exhausted.”
It is understood that during the flight, the crew refused to keep selling food and drink after a certain period.
The source said: “They didn’t give anything out for free, and you couldn’t even buy anything.
“People were understandably thirsty and hungry. We’d already been on the flight for four hours at this point, maybe longer. You couldn’t access anything.”
Travellers were forced to rely on strangers and ration the available snacks between them.
The crew eventually relented and allowed the passengers to purchase refreshments but quickly, all the supplies ran out, apart from a few packs of crisps, the source said.
It is understood the anonymous passenger hasn’t been successful in claiming back any money following the nightmare journey.
When his claim was “automatically rejected”, he chose to escalate his dispute with AviationADR.
In a letter sent to the passenger, seen by the Daily Mail, Ryanair said the flight was “disrupted due to unexpected and extraordinary circumstances, which were beyond our control”.
A Ryanair spokesperson said: “This flight from London Stansted to Tirana (3 June) was diverted to Brindisi due to adverse weather conditions at Tirana Airport, however, subsequently diverted to Thessaloniki Airport due to a thunderstorm.
“After 45 minutes, crew opened the bars on board so that passengers could access snacks and refreshments.
“Passengers booked on this flight received communications via email, SMS and PUSH notifications.
“Once weather conditions improved, this flight departed for Tirana at 4:44am local time.”
It comes as a after it was smashed open by pieces of the jet’s broken engine.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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