I thought I was going to die when a passenger tried to open the door on our Tui flight and screamed 'see you in heaven' | The Sun
A TERRIFIED mum said she thought she was going to die when a passenger tried to open the plane door MID-FLIGHT screaming he would "see them all in heaven".
Mel Brown feared for her family's life when the disruptive passenger became "highly aggressive and threatening" on her TUI flight home from holiday.
The mum-of-two was flying to Manchester yesterday evening after spending her summer getaway in Paphos, Cyprus, but claimed suddenly all hell broke loose in the air.
Mel told how a male passenger who appeared drunk became distressed and acted out, even trying to open the emergency doors on the plane.
She said he started praying loudly on the floor and demanded other petrified passengers do the same.
Then chaos reportedly erupted as panicking passengers ran to the back of the plane in fear, grabbing their children, scrambling over seats and screaming "help, we're going to die".
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In those dramatic moments, 32-year-old Mel thought her whole family was in danger.
Luckily, brave passengers on the plane, including two off-duty police officers, managed to restrain the raving troublemaker in a fierce tussle.
The pilot was forced to make a "terrifying" emergency landing, diverting to Zagreb, Croatia.
It was there the man was bundled off the plane and met by local police.
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TUI confirmed that due to a "very disruptive" passenger, the flight was "forced to divert" so that he could be "offloaded" from the aircraft.
Mel from Bolton, Greater Manchester, said: "I honestly thought I was going to die and that I'd never see my family or children again.
"And I'm not the only person that thought it.
"It was awful, there were so many women screaming and shouting for help and screaming 'oh my God my kids'. All the kids were crying and screaming on the plane.
"It was terrifying. I think I've done all my crying now, I can't cry any more."
Other customers shared similar experiences on social media, with one lady named Kirsty saying the man pointed at her and her children and told them to "pray".
Meanwhile, some tweeted that they were stranded after a passenger "posed a threat" to others on board.
Mel remembered how she was suspicious of the violent passenger from his bizarre behaviour in the terminal.
She said: "When we were queuing to get on the plane and a couple of passengers were talking about a passenger queuing up who was quite rowdy and acting very strangely.
That was it then, everyone started getting really upset and panicked.
"We all got on the plane and he was acting quite strange and I was already scared before this [incident] had happened.
"We took off and two and a half hours into the flight he kept getting out of his seat constantly, walking up and down the aisles and disappearing into the toilet.
"He was being disruptive on the plane and making people quite agitated and scared.
"My daughter was getting really worked up and upset because we could tell he was intoxicated, definitely as he was swaying and stuff like that.
"An air stewardess came to us and said 'we're having difficulty with a passenger on the plane, he's making threats.
"That was it then, everyone started getting really upset and panicked."
Mel claimed he was becoming "really aggressive" to the stewardesses and would only speak to one directly.
Melissa said: "And then all of a sudden he just jumped up in the middle of the plane near the emergency exit and making hand signals to everybody, praying really loudly in a different language.
"In English he was saying stuff like, 'everybody needs to start praying, I'll see you all in heaven'.
"He was trying the emergency exit doors to try and get out the plane and everybody started screaming and shouting 'help, we're going to die'.
It was like he wanted to kill us all, it was absolutely terrifying.
"It was like he wanted to kill us all, it was absolutely terrifying.
"Everyone started running to the back of the plane, screaming, grabbing their kids and jumping over seats while he was still praying on the floor.
"The next minute a man jumped up and punched him in the back of the head and all the men ran to him and restrained him and there was two off duty police officers on the plane and they ran up and basically barricaded him into a seat until we landed.
"And the pilot did a really fast descend to a Croatian airport. We were literally falling out of the sky, it was really traumatic."
Melissa claimed she was eventually taken to a hotel in Zagreb around mid-day today and is waiting to get on a flight home.
She was originally due to fly home on Monday but the flight was rescheduled to yesterday – before the diversion drama.
TUI apologised for the delay and diversion due to the "disruptive" passenger and said they wanted to reassure customers that such instances are "extremely rare".
A TUI spokesperson said: "We’re very sorry to all customers impacted by the delay to TOM2731 and subsequent diversion due to a disruptive passenger.
We take a zero-tolerance approach to disruptive behaviour on our flights.
"Unfortunately due to on-going disruption with the aviation ecosystem, the original flight was delayed overnight as crew had reached their regulated hours.
"Our TUI reps supported customers throughout and the airport and the flight departed on Monday 15th August, in the evening.
"The health and safety of our customers and crew is always our highest priority and due to a disruptive passenger the flight was forced to divert to Zagreb, Croatia.
"The passenger was offloaded, was met by Police will not travel with Tui when the flight departs later today. We take a zero-tolerance approach to disruptive behaviour on our flights.
"We understand how frustrating this additional delay will be for our customers and apologise for the on-going delay they now face.
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"We have a TUI team supporting customers in Croatia, we have kept them updated with regular communication, have sourced accommodation and provided meals and refreshments.
"We thank customers for their understanding and patience and would like to reassure customers that instances like this are extremely rare."
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