Cops storm TUI plane diverted from Gatwick after ‘man claimed to be a TERRORIST so desperate passengers could get off’
COPS stormed a flight stranded by the Gatwick chaos after one passenger yanked open a door and another claimed to be a terrorist because they were so desperate to get off.
Irate passengers said waiting on the tarmac was “pure hell” after their TUI flight from Cape Verde to was diverted to Stansted after a drone moron shut down the UK's second busiest airport.
Some tried to take matters into their own hands, with one man pulling open a door because “he had no fresh air”.
Another passenger then claimed he was a terrorist because he thought this would help them disembark the aircraft quicker.
One passenger, Lyndsey Clarke, from Southend-on-Sea, Essex, tweeted: “So Gatwick is shut due to drones so our flight TOM687 has been diverted to Stansted.
“So far we've been stuck on our plane for four hours...a man has opened the plane door and put everyone at risk and then another guy says he's a terrorist.
“Living pure hell right now. The staff on flight TOM687 have been amazing but unfortunately they have been subject to so much abuse.
“We all just want to get home. Several passengers on flight TOM687 just making this ordeal so awful, abusive to staff, shouting at other passengers. Police here now.”
Later, she said she was finally off “the plane of living hell”, adding: “Now to find a taxi back to Gatwick with a big bill - passengers trying to go together.”
And at 5.30am, Ms Clarke tweeted a picture of her car, saying: “Never been so happy to see our car.
"Back at Gatwick finally...eight hours later than our scheduled flight was due to arrive home at 9.30pm...just over an hour's drive home now.”
After arriving home she said: “As for the terrorist... I have no words that someone thought it was OK to terrify an aircraft by saying he was a terrorist when in fact he was using it as an 'idea' to get them to let us off the plane, causing many of us to have panic attacks as we didn't know if he was real.”
Another passenger, Ashley Pollitt, tweeted TUI to praise staff on the flight for being “nothing but helpful and informing us regularly” about what was happening.
She added: “I'm sensing you will get a lot of complaints off idiotic customers that put both passengers/staff in danger along with other throwing stupid statements around.”
An Essex Police spokesman said: “We were called shortly after 1.35am on Thursday, December 20 to reports a passenger was being disruptive.
“We attended and spoke to the parties involved. No offences were identified and words of advice were given to the male passenger.”
A TUI spokesman said: “We would like to apologise to customers travelling on TOM687 which was diverted to London Stansted due to the London Gatwick drone disruption.
“While the aircraft was held on stand, our captain made the decision to call police to the aircraft due to a customer’s disruptive behaviour. We operate a zero tolerance policy on aggressive and abusive behaviour on board our flights.
“The safety and security of all our customers and crew remains our number one priority and we are doing everything possible to minimise the disruption for our customers during this time.”
Stansted Airport declined to comment.
Tens of thousands of passengers are suffering travel chaos after all flights at the West Sussex airport were suspended.
The runway was closed at 9pm on Wednesday after two of the devices were seen near the airfield.
It was reopened at 3am on Thursday, but was shut again 45 minutes later after a further sighting of drones.
Some 10,000 passengers were affected on Wednesday night, and a further 110,000 were due to either take off or land at the airport on 760 flights today.
Chris Woodroofe, Gatwick's chief operating officer, said disruption would continue for several days.
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