A flight from Barcelona to Dublin was evacuated on Monday after a man snuck onto a plane and tried to barricade himself in the bathroom, according to reports.
The man had managed to get onto the Spain-based Vueling Airlines plane without a boarding pass and a fake passport before locking himself in the airplane restroom, according to the airline. Passengers had to be taken off the flight while video shared by Yahoo News showed officials boarding the plane and walking toward the bathrooms in the back.
“Vueling disembarked all passengers safely and proceeded to change aircraft so our customers were able to continue their journey to their destination,” an airline representative told Travel + Leisure on Tuesday. “There was no impact on passengers and cabin crew and the local authorities were in full charge of the situation.”
The plane was originally scheduled to leave at 12:40 p.m. local time and was delayed for more than two hours, eventually taking off just after 3:20 p.m., Fox News reported.
Passengers Mark Megarry and Paul Steward told Dublin Live that the man was sitting in front of them and had bolted as soon as he realized he was caught.
“An air hostess began asking everyone on the plane for their boarding passes and passports,” they said. “The man was sitting in front of us and after the air hostess had checked ours, he jumped up out of his seat and ran.”
“He pushed his way past the air hostess,” they added. “A passenger near the back jumped out of their seat and tried to stop him also but he pushed them out of the way too and locked himself in the bathroom.”
Following the incident, a passenger tweeted about the lack of available information, angrily asking Vueling: “When is someone going to come and let us know what is going on VY8720.”
Vueling responded saying that they were changing the flight and were “working in order to speed the process up. Our colleagues will inform you in the shortest time possible.” The airline later followed up that they would re-check-in all passengers on the flight and they were “doing our best in order to depart as soon as possible.”
It was not immediately clear if the man was charged in the incident.
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