Passengers on Delayed Flight Form Human Barricade to Prevent Others From Flying Turns out "air rage" doesn't magically go away when the airplane lands.
Usually, stories about unruly air travelers involve one or two passengers behaving like absolute maniacs. But the passengers of Brussels Airlines flight A330 decided to make their insanity a group effort.
As reported by Aviation 24, after their flight to Cameroon had to return to Brussels due to a technical problem, the travelers were hit with some very unpleasant news: there would be no more flights to their destination that day. A bummer for sure, but for 40 of the 273 passengers who did not have a visa for the Belgian territory, it got even worse. Those travelers would be forced to spend the night in the airport rather than in a complimentary hotel room.
This news was not received well. Groupthink landed on the concept of, "If we're not flying, no one is flying," and so the grounded passengers formed a human barrier, blocking other travelers from getting to their gates.
The airport quickly devolved into "an absolute mess" according to traveler Darren McDermott who tweeted from the scene.
#BrusselsAirport is an absolute mess today. According to staff the passengers of a flight that was due to leave last night have blockaded #GateB with a sit-down protest. To their credit airport staff are bussing passengers to other side of the terminal to get to their gates. pic.twitter.com/TduW2xJjoT
— Darren J. McDermott (@EURASEANEDU) December 8, 2022
The absolute mess was eventually cleaned up before things got even more out of hand. A spokesperson for Brussels Airlines told Business Insider the airline made arrangements with government authorities to move those without visas, and the airport returned to normalcy.
Related: American Airlines Flight Diverted After Passenger Punches Flight Attendant
Let's just hope the airline had that next flight fully stocked with coffee because, with this group, you could easily have a scene like this on your hands.
