An out-of-control man, donning an Aston Villa t-shirt, was removed from an easyJet flight by Spanish police amid claims from passengers he was “drinking cans of Stella while shouting about Birmingham”. Fellow passengers said he was seen drinking beer during check-in and “chanting” on the plane bound for Birmingham from Lanzarote’s Arrecife airport on Sunday (December 28) before he was removed.
A video filmed onboard showed the unnamed man arguing with officers and cabin crew before he stood up and shouted “F***!” at airline staff. He could then be heard yelling: “What’s the problem?”, before being dragged off the plane by police as he continued to swear. Another person on board was heard shouting “Up the Villa!” – a chant used by Aston Villa fans. Another passenger yelled: “Villa are s***”, which prompted laughter from other holidaymakers.
According to the Daily Mail, one witness said: “When we were queuing to check in where you show your passport and all that, the guy in the video with the Aston Villa shirt on was doing some kind of football chants and kept running around with cans of Stella in his hand just shouting things about Birmingham.
“When we got on the plane we could hear chanting about wanting to go back to Birmingham and the stewardesses were running about on the telephones. We were sat on the plane for a bit and five of the Spanish Guardia police came on and were having a chat with the air hostesses.
“I heard a bit of swearing and some sort of stuff. We were delayed an hour after all of this messing about whilst they got his case off, and then his wife decided to leave as well”.
A spokesperson for easyJet said: “A passenger on flight EZY6648 from Lanzarote to Birmingham on 28th December was escorted off the aircraft prior to departure as a result of disruptive behaviour. The flight then continued to Birmingham.
“Our cabin crew are trained to assess all situations and to act quickly and appropriately, to ensure that safety is not compromised at any time. We take these incidents seriously and do not tolerate disruptive behaviour onboard.
“The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is always easyJet’s highest priority.”
News of this incident comes just days after a plane was forced into an emergency landing at Manchester Airport and evacuated. Aer Lingus flight EUK930 from Bridgetown, Barbados, was evacuated while on the runway due to safety concerns over its hydraulics, according to social media reports.