Disputes over airplane seats have long been a common occurrence, but sometimes innocent verbal spats escalate into much more serious issues. According to The Independent, a Ryanair flight from Agadir, Morocco, to London, UK, was forced to make an emergency landing in Marrakech last week after a massive brawl erupted among passengers.
Eyewitnesses reported that the heated argument over seat arrangements broke out 36 minutes into the four-hour flight, though tensions had been rising since boarding. The conflict began when a man in his twenties asked a woman, who was seated next to her daughter, to switch seats with him so he could sit next to his wife and young children.
When the woman refused, the man began threatening her during the flight, prompting the woman’s husband to step in to defend her. The situation escalated to the point where flight attendants had to intervene. As the conflict intensified, the pilot decided to divert the plane to the Moroccan city of Marrakech to offload the disruptive passengers. Moroccan police met the plane on the runway and detained nine passengers involved in the onboard fight.
Compounding the situation, another passenger fell ill and required medical attention. As a result, the flight, carrying approximately 200 passengers, was delayed overnight at Marrakech Airport because the crew had reached their maximum allowed duty hours. The plane did not depart until the following evening.
In related news, it was recently revealed that airlines have begun discreetly removing reclining seats from aircraft, eliminating another common source of in-flight disputes.
