This is the shocking moment police officers boarded a Ryanair flight at Stansted Airport to remove a passenger who managed to get on the aircraft without a boarding pass.
The passenger tried to embark the 5.20pm flight on Monday to Seville but refused to show cabin crew a valid boarding pass or identification.
The Boeing 737-800 jet was full of Liverpool fans heading to the Spanish city in advance of their team’s Champions League match.
This is the moment two police officers confronted a Ryanair passenger who refused to leave the aircraft after the man, who was wearing a hoodie failed to show a valid boarding pass
Martin Richards, 34, left and his friend Richard Walker were on the Ryanair flight on Monday
Martin Richards, 34, from Grantham, Lincolnshire said: ‘We were all bricking it.’
The father-of-two said the Liverpool fans on the flight started chanting: ‘Kick him off’ while the man refused to leave the jet.
Mr Richards was travelling to the game with his friend Richard Walker, 39.
He continued: ‘We sat down, everything was tickety boo and we were chilling.
‘Suddenly a bloke comes up to a woman and says: “You’re sat in my seat”.
‘They looked at each other’s boarding passes and it became clear that the woman was sat in his seat because this man was sitting in her aisle seat.
‘The man refused to show his boarding pass and a steward got involved.’
The steward repeatedly asked the man, who wore sunglasses and a hoodie, to show his boarding pass and each time the man refused.
The pair were flying to Spain for Liverpool’s Champions League encounter against Seville
The man was removed from the aircraft by Essex Police before the jet was searched
Finally the steward threatened to call the police.
Mr Richards said: ‘The guy was just not interested. He had his hoodie up and his sunglasses on so he looked really suspicious.
‘The steward said: “Right, final chance, show me your boarding pass or the police will come.”
‘The man ignored it. The guy was sitting there, not even responding.
‘Most of the passengers were Liverpool fans. And we started shouting: “Kick him off”.’
But Mr Richards added that the incident did unnerve passengers and that he even texted his fiance, Luanne Morton, 33, a trainee solicitor, to tell her he loved her.
Ryanair passengers were ordered off their flight at Stansted Airport, file photograph, after a man embarked the aircraft without a valid boarding pass prompting a security alert
He said: ‘We were all a bit agitated and nervous. This guy is acting dodgy on a plane.
‘I texted my missus and said “I love you all”. It sounds pathetic but you do worry in these times.’
Mr Richards thought the disruptive passenger may have been intoxicated.
He said: ‘He did look drunk. But when I get drunk, I don’t go to an airport and try to board a plane without a pass.’
Two police officers boarded the plane and removed the passenger.
But panic erupted when passengers realised that the crew needed to check the plane for suspicious items.
Martin recalled: ‘Ryanair staff started searching the hand luggage bins and asked people to account for their luggage.
‘There was panic on the plane. People grabbed their own luggage.
‘Finally a steward said: “Everyone has to get off the plane and take your luggage with you”.’
Passengers were left waiting on the runway for 40 minutes as crew checked the plane.
Martin said: ‘In all, we were delayed by an hour.’
A spokesman for the airline said: ‘The crew of this flight in London Stansted (20 Nov) requested police assistance after an individual boarded an aircraft but refused to show a boarding card or identification.
‘Stansted Police removed and detained this individual.
‘The aircraft was subjected to a full security check before the flight departed with a 60 minute delay.
‘This matter is now being dealt with by the Essex Police Services.’
A London Stansted Airport spokesperson said: ‘A man was removed from a Ryanair flight on Monday (20 November) by Essex Police for refusing to show a valid boarding card.
‘The passenger had already been subjected to the full security search and screening processes, and at no time posed any risk to passenger safety or security.
‘We are conducting an investigating into the full circumstances behind the incident with the all relevant parties.’