A Jet2 passenger has been accused by the UK airline of a ‘catalogue of aggressive, abusive and dangerous behaviour’, which caused two British Royal Air Force jets to escort one of its planes back to London’s Stansted Airport.
On an Airbus A321 bound for Dalaman in Turkey, Chloe Haines, 25, was accused of trying to open the aircraft doors during the flight. She had to be restrained by fellow passengers and crew after a rant was reported only 45 minutes into the flight.
Photos on social media show Ms Haines lying down in the aisle. She also allegedly stormed the cockpit and threatened to kill other passengers on board the flight.
Amy Varol, who was sat behind Haines, told British paper The Sun: 'Then a man sat on her and one person was holding her leg and someone else holding the other one. 'That's when she started screaming "get off me, I'm going to kill everyone."
Other passengers on the flight had to stay in London overnight and return for the flight the next day.
Ms Haines was then arrested by Essex Police after landing at Stansted and was given an 85,000 fine from the airline. The newspaper reported that she was convicted of a drink driving offence two weeks before the incident.
Steve Heapy, CEO of Jet2.com and Jet2Holidays, told the The Sun on Wednesday night it will “vigorously pursue” the costs.
He claimed the young woman’s behaviour was one of the most serious cases of disruptive passenger behaviour that the airline has experienced.
"She must now face up to the consequences of her actions, and we will vigorously pursue to recover the costs that we incurred as a result of this divert, as we do with all disruptive passengers.
"As a family friendly airline, we take an absolutely zero tolerance approach to disruptive behaviour, and we hope that this sobering incident, with its very serious consequences, provides a stark warning to others who think that they can behave in this fashion,” he said.