Terrified passengers on an easyJet flight from Turkey to Gatwick had to endure an emergency landing after they claimed a teenage girl flew into a rage when she had a row with a ten-year-old over her cough.
Travellers on board the jet which had to make an unscheduled stop in Italy were said to have been ‘physically sick’ and ‘fell in the toilet’ as the 16 year old allegedly threatened to stab the cabin crew.
It meant the EasyJet plane that flew from Antalya to Gatwick on Friday night was unable to land in the British airport and had to touch down in Bari instead.
Eyewitnesses claim the teenage girl used language like ‘get out of my face’ leaving others passengers crying and distressed, including the mother of the little girl she had apparently lost her temper at.
Nadine, 39, from Reading, was onboard the aircraft with her daughter Jernai, 19, when the carnage ensued and the pair described it as a ‘fight from hell’ that ruined their Christmas.
Speaking to the Sun, Nadine said: ‘We went to Turkey for Christmas, where we had a really lovely holiday at a hotel called Aska Lara.
‘We were all nice and relaxed, but then it turned to hell on the flight home. It’s ruined my Christmas.
‘So this 16-year-old was about four rows behind me and she was sitting next to a little girl who was about 10 started coughing and she told her to stop.
Terrified Brits were forced to endure an emergency plane landing after a teenage girl got so riled up ‘over a 10-year-old’s coughing’ that she ‘threatened to stab cabin crew’
The EasyJet plane was unable to land in the British airport and had to stop in Bari, Italy instead due to the chaos onboard
Nadine, 39, from Reading, (pictured) was onboard the aircraft with her daughter Jernai, 19, when the carnage ensued and the pair described it as a ‘fight from hell’ that ruined their Christmas
‘The little girl went to the toilet but the older girl followed her to the toilet.
‘The girl kept having outbursts saying ‘get out of my face’, and she wouldn’t let her out.
‘Then the mum went down and the teenage girl was shouting in her face.
‘The mum and the little girl were crying so the crew walked the girl and her mum down to the to the front of the plane to get away from her.’
Nadine added the teenage girl repeatedly ‘ignored requests of aircraft staff to go back to her seat and instead shouted abuse’.
The mum recalled: ‘She just started shouting abuse at the crew members and then she stormed to the back of the plane.
‘She was trying to open the door and she broke the handle. The crew members pulled her away and restrained her.
‘She was surrounded by all the crew members but one tried to calm her down.
Daughter Jernai (left), 19, is reportedly scared to go away again as she has been traumatised by the experience
Nadine said the 16-year-old ‘started screaming on the plane and she threatened to stab a crew member’
‘She started screaming on the plane and she threatened to stab a crew member.
‘This was all happening in the middle of the plane as they were trying to get her away from the door.
‘I was at the front and she came running down the plane and I watched her run down the plane.’
A woman reportedly then ‘fell into the toilet’ as a result of the outburst after the teen went flying forward into the toilet door.
Nadine said: ‘She went flying forward into the toilet the door but someone was coming out of the toilet.
‘She fell into the woman who fell into the toilet into the pilots door was flung open.’
‘At one point she took off her shoes and threw them at passengers. Everyone was so nervous.
‘People started getting upset and getting up. They eventually managed to get the girl to sit down.
The plane was meant to land in London Gatwick (pictured) but instead had to land in Bari Airport in Italy
‘But for safety reasons the pilot had to announce that we would make an emergency landing and lowered the plane.
‘The girl was flying with her mum and her Nan.’
Nadine also told the Sun she was angry at Easyjet for not apologising after everyone was ordered off the plane at Bari airport and shepherded into hotel rooms.
She said: ‘It was absolute hell. Easyjet did not care about us on the plane. They left us without any water.
‘The pilot was tired, and he said he had to land for security reasons because a passenger breached security.
‘We were asked to go into the airport, and when we landed, there were firemen, maintenance, and police.
‘Police started gathering statements. The girl who caused the scene was arrested.
‘You can imagine how upsetting it all was. It was just me and my daughter, I was crying.’
Nadine and Jernai had been on holiday in Antalya but unfortunately the experience on the plane ruined the memory for them
Nadine then went on to recount how she was physically sick in the hotel room
She said: ‘When we arrived at the hotel in Bari, we were horrified.
‘When we ran the tap it was misty water, and we hadn’t drank in hours.
‘I went in and was sick on the floor. We had two single beds, the sheets were filthy.
‘The room was freezing cold with only a little radiator which didn’t even work.
‘Don’t get me started on the bathroom with all the mould on the floor. The door didn’t even lock. There was a baby crying next door.
‘The next morning I saw the hotel in the light – what a dump! There were broken windows and rubbish piled up.’
‘Easyjet has not apologised. There’s been no compensation.
‘My daughter Jernai is 19, and she is scared to go away again. She has been traumatised by the experience.
‘It ruined my Christmas, We got in at 12.50am and I collapsed into my own bed.
‘I am ill because it was so cold in the room. I suffer from asthma and COPD and I can’t go out and enjoy the rest of my Christmas.
‘My family have all gone back to the Caribbean, and I couldn’t see them because I was too ill.
‘It was nothing but stress, I had a headache, I feel really relieved to be home. I’ve never been so happy to be home.
‘I don’t think I will go on a holiday for at least a year after this as it frightened me so much.’
She claimed she had sent Easyjet an email but not yet had a response.
Easyjet told The Sun: ‘Flight EZY8556 from Antalya to London Gatwick on 27th December diverted to Bari.
‘It was met by police due to a passenger behaving disruptively onboard.
‘EasyJet’s cabin crew are trained to assess and evaluate all situations and acted quickly and appropriately to ensure that the safety of the flight and other passengers was not compromised at any time.
‘While such incidents are rare we take them very seriously and do not tolerate abusive or threatening behaviour onboard.
‘As this led to the crew feeling unfit to operate, the flight was delayed overnight and scheduled to operate the following day.
‘The safety and wellbeing of our passengers and crew is always easyJet’s priority.
‘While this was outside of our control, we are sorry for the inconvenience this will have caused.
‘We did all we could to minimise the impact of the diversion, providing hotel accommodation and meals.
‘We have advised customers we will reimburse any expenses incurred.’