An EasyJet Airbus A320 that was heading to Paris made a detour to Lyon after a passenger attempted to take over the aircraft while it was in flight.
On September 11, 2022, the EasyJet Airbus A320-200 aircraft, registration OE-IJJ, was flying domestic flight U24066, a regularly scheduled route between Nice and Paris in France.
The plane left Nice Airport (NCE) at 3.56 p.m. (UTC) and was scheduled to land at Paris Orly Airport (ORY) around two hours later, according to Flightradar24.com.
However, as the aircraft was cruising, a threatening, shirtless passenger stood up in the center of the cabin aisle and began yelling as he tried to force his way into the cockpit, according to Air Journal. Witnesses claim that a member of the cabin crew stopped the angry passenger from breaking into the flight deck.
But the bare-chested person continued acting in a threatening manner.
“He was scary, he intimidated everyone,” one of the witnesses of the flight told local media. “I thought it was over then. He asked us if we cared about our little lives.”
The flight crew made the decision to divert right away, and around an hour after takeoff, the aircraft landed at Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport (LYS).
The flight was diverted “due to a passenger’s disruptive behavior,” EasyJet later told the local media.
“The police were present when the aircraft arrived in Lyon. The passengers were disembarked, and the flight then continued [the flight] to Orly,” easyJet explained.
