A woman was removed from an AirAsia flight en route from Chongqing, China, to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Apr. 22.
She was caught on camera causing a scene before take-off.
AirAsia flight D7809 was scheduled to take off at around 2:10am, but only departed at 3:47am following a delay.
The plane had to be redirected back to the boarding bay after it had already made its way towards the runway in preparation for take-off.
Passenger recounts what happened
According to an account by a passenger who witnessed what happened, the woman began attracting attention when she raised her voice to engage other passengers shortly after boarding.
The woman, who was labelled “Gucci Bag Lady” as she had a Gucci accessory with her, became agitated after she realised that three fellow travellers she was with could not board the flight.
Companions apparently could not board
The three people who missed the flight were apparently stalled at the airport for about 30 minutes, and the delay caused them to miss boarding.
The woman, who was agitated, confronted the cabin crew and exclaimed that the flight should not have proceeded since her friends had already bought tickets.
She was heard saying that on the phone as well.
Other passengers apparently did not think much of the verbal altercation at the time and assumed it would die down.
Was apparently filmed
But the situation escalated as the woman continued speaking loudly on her mobile phone even after the plane started moving.
A fellow passenger seated across the aisle was seen telling the agitated woman to stop using her phone as mandated by flight safety procedures.
The agitated woman allegedly retorted she had not violated any rules, as the plane had not taken off and the connection would be cut once she was in the air.
The mood turned sour further when she apparently noticed she was being recorded and demanded the video’s deletion as it invaded her privacy.
Crew members intervened as a result.
Apparently annoyed staff spoke English
A staff member spoke to the woman in English, which caused her to get more agitated.
She claimed she was from China, was an airline crew member as well, and could only speak Mandarin, and expected staff on an international flight to be able to converse in Mandarin as well.
A Mandarin-speaking crew member was subsequently located and attempted to calm the woman down with little success.
The witness said the woman had become impossible to reason with at this point.
Chinese airport personnel intervened
The pilot then apparently made the decision to turn the aircraft around.
Airport security personnel boarded the plane, and the woman was escorted off.
Before getting removed, the woman said she wanted to have a copy of the videos that those on board had filmed as it would show what had happened.
Some videos of the incident did show fellow passengers gawking at the scene that was unfolding before them at the time.
There was sporadic clapping at some points.
A number of passengers were also seen smiling and laughing as they watched the scene unfolding, while recording it on their mobile phones.
Top photos via @ivy_ng997