Each of us has experienced frustration while travelling.
But on Tuesday, one traveller allegedly tried to kick out the windows of his Los Angeles-bound jet, raising the incident to a new level.
The Virgin Atlantic flight’s pilot was forced by the ruckus to make an impromptu stop in Salt Lake City at around 4.30 p.m.
At Heathrow Airport in London, where the flight had taken off, there was a tense atmosphere as passengers waited in a two-hour security line.
The customer, who is said to be British, was in the Economy section when he became combative during the trip and reportedly engaged flight attendants in three separate altercations.
At one point, he dozed off, but soon woke up and started running around the aircraft.
He continued to consume alcohol during the flight, which made matters worse.
Eventually, he vented his resentment on the windows of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
According to eyewitness accounts provided to The Sun, the disturbance on board the plane prompted a mother to drop her infant, who suffered just minor wounds.
According to police sources, “a passenger on board became violent and engaged in combat with a number of passengers while attempting to get to approach the cockpit.”
A mother injured her baby when she dropped it during the fight.
When they finally had him under control, they handcuffed the man and made a detour to Salt Lake City so that police could board the aircraft and arrest him.
The British passenger, who was flying with his family, had not anticipated the presence of the marines on board flight VS141.
Fortunately for the other passengers, the marines stopped his assault when they leapt on top of him, according to witnesses.
One onlooker remarked, “It took a considerable while to convince him to sit back down and resolve it.”
Then, a few hours later, it happened once more, and I reflected, “This might not turn out well.”
Later on, after dozing off briefly, he awoke energised and started acting physically. A few US Marines surrounded him and piled on top of him.
He was handcuffed while still sitting in the rear.
Then, after being handcuffed, the man started whining that he couldn’t feel his fingers.
Police detained the traveller, who was then removed from the aeroplane with his family in Salt Lake City.
The flight to Los Angeles was then delayed by four hours as a result of the tantrum.
Virgin Atlantic issued a statement saying, “The safety and wellness of our passengers and staff are always our first concern and we don’t tolerate any behaviour that affects this.”
Other travellers attributed the unfriendly environment on the disarray at Heathrow.
“I spent five hours there and I about missed my flight.” People weren’t happy, they were quite agitated, one remarked.
“There were so many screaming kids and irate parents,” the passenger said, “I’ve never been on a trip like that.”
“The flight attendants were tense from the start; I believe the current state of the industry is not healthy.”
Heathrow had reached its capacity.
On Wednesday, formal charges are anticipated to be filed by the US Attorney.