A "disruptive" couple found smoking on a plane forced the captain to divert the flight, leaving passengers stranded in a "warzone" at a Maine airport for more than 17 hours earlier this week.
Flight BY49 of TUI Airways left Cancun, Mexico, on July 8 for London Gatwick. Around an hour into the flight, a couple was found smoking cigarettes in the lavatory. The captain warned that they would be forced to divert the flight if the behaviour persisted.
Despite the stern words, the smokers continued their act. As a result, the pilot diverted the flight to Bangor International Airport in Maine around three-and-a-half hours later, close to Canadian airspace at 9:30 pm local time. Upon landing, the couple was escorted off. The original crew was unable to proceed to London because they had exceeded their lawful duty-time limit.
“Everybody was fed up,” Terry Lawrance, 66, a UK native, told Southwest News Service.
Following the unexpected landing at Bangor, passengers remained seated for an additional five hours, even as the jet taxied to take departure, Mr Lawrance claimed.
Due to the US immigration rules and regulations, travellers were unable to exit the terminal. They were directed to a restricted area, which was reportedly a military sector of the airport.
Videos showed flyers sleeping shoulder-to-shoulder in what was described as a "warzone lounge" with makeshift airbeds set up, The New York Post reported.
“It was like free-for-all for vultures,” Mr Lawrance described their temporary shelter, before adding, “There were rows and rows of beds—it was like a war zone in a lounge.”
Passengers had to wait 12 to 15 hours to access their belongings before they were even served refreshments.
TUI organised for a relief team to be flown in from the United Kingdom. The flight finally took off from Bangor at 3 pm local time on July 9, more than 17 hours after it landed in Maine. They acknowledged that the diversion was required for safety after "disruptive" behaviour occurred on board, as per PEOPLE.
