Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Two women thrown off flight for complaining about ‘terrorist’ Muslim passengers

Pair reportedly tried to have three men removed from plane

Harry Cockburn
Monday 15 July 2019 16:25 BST
Comments
Woman removed from plane after calling Muslim men 'terrorists'

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Two women were thrown off a Thomas Cook flight from Turkey to Gatwick after they allegedly said three Muslim men in white prayer shawls were “terrorists” and a “threat” to the safety of the plane, other passengers have claimed.

Videos of the incident, which took place after 1am on Friday, show one of the women, who are believed to be British, removing her bag from the overhead luggage rack before being escorted off the plane by police.

The incident meant the flight from Dalman to Gatwick was delayed by over an hour.

Mario Van Poppel, a Belgian father-of-three who was on the flight, said the woman was a “crazy racist”.

“A passenger on our Thomas Cook flight refuses to stay on the plane because three bearded men in white prayer robes are on board,” he tweeted.

Shanea Kerry, who was also on the plane, said the women had tried to have the men taken off the flight.

She said: “They went to the front of the plane, spoke to the flight attendants & attempted to get the 3 men removed by stating that they are ‘disgusting’ & ‘a threat’.”

Drunk passengers aboard Ryanair flight sing racist chants

She said when one of the women “came back to get her bags, abuse was just flying around the plane – quite a few people called her out for the racism … she continued to tell us we are stupid for staying on the plane with the three men.”

Ms Kerry also said the woman called her a “fat bitch” when she confronted them for their “disgusting behaviour”.

In a statement, Thomas Cook told The Mirror: “Two passengers on flight MT105 from Dalaman to London Gatwick were removed from the aircraft by police following offensive behaviour on board.

“The safety of our customers and crew is always our first priority and we do not accept this kind of behaviour on our aircraft. We are sorry to our customers for the delay this caused to their flight.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in