I can appreciate that travel can be stressful at times, and that many airlines could do a better job communicating with passengers. However, I can never quite figure out what possesses a passenger to do something like this.
A Facebook user shared a video of a guy who grew tired of the delays on a Ryanair flight from London to Malaga, and decided to pop open the emergency exit and deplane that way. Here’s what the Facebook user wrote, translated using Google Translate:
Yesterday Monday, January 1st, after leaving London an hour late, arrive at Málaga and being left 30 more minutes on the plane (without any explanation from Ryanair)…. this gentleman decided that he wasn’t going to wait any more, activated the emergency door and ready… he got out from the wing… Surreal!!
Here’s the video:
https://www.facebook.com/fernando.delvallevillalobos/videos/10211173682125467/
As you can see, the guy doesn’t actually end up jumping down. People often underestimate the distance between the ground and the wing, though I’ve never seen anything quite like this, where the guy just sort of sits there.
The way I see it, there are two most likely scenarios. Either the guy had never been on a plane before, or he was just being an impatient idiot (or both?). Assuming he had never been on a plane before, then you’d think he’d follow the lead of others, rather than doing something like this. I doubt that was the case, though. Instead, I assume he was being an idiot, which I also can’t understand. Do people think airlines are just going to be fine with this behavior, that they won’t get in serious trouble, and that it will actually get them to the gate any sooner? Yes, I realize people aren’t acting rationally at that point, but goodness.
On the plus side, at least he didn’t get off the plane through a door with an emergency slide, which would have been much more costly for the airline. At least that might have gotten him off the plane, though, rather than just onto the wing.
Update: Initially I only saw the Facebook post, though the Daily Mail reports that the passenger was allegedly having an asthma attack, and the crew refused to do anything to help. I’m still not sure this was the best way to handle that, but at least it would provide a more reasonable explanation of why this unfolded the way it did.
(Tip of the hat to Andy’s Travel Blog)
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