A complaint about racial abuse aboard an easyJet flight has gone without a satisfactory response for nine months, according to a claim by a UK family. The incident occurred on a flight from Lanzarote to London Gatwick when a dispute broke out over a five-year-old boy listening to a film without headphones.
Movie noise
The boy was watching the 2010 remake of eighties martial arts kids’ classic The Karate Kid on an iPad, with the volume turned down low, said the mother, a 26-year-old lettings officer from South London, who has spoken out to the British tabloid, The Sun. A woman seated four rows ahead of the family became annoyed by the movie soundtrack, which features action-adventure music and impact effects. Her request for it to be turned down included shouts of “racial abuse” directed at the child.
When the mother challenged the “discrimination” the angry passenger committed a physical assault by grabbing the mother’s partner by the neck. The partner has a physical disability.
As a result of the verbal and physical altercation between the passengers, the plane diverted to Porto, where it made an emergency landing, and both families were met by police and deboarded.
Unsupported victims
The boy’s mother says the airline staff should have treated her family members as victims in the incident and supported them. Instead, their holiday ended with them being escorted from their return flight by the authorities, alongside their alleged abuser. After being stranded in Porto, the mother and her son and disabled partner were forced to make their own way home to the UK, with their boy described as “extremely scared and distressed.”
But after complaining to the budget airline nine months ago, the mother told press her complaints to easyJet have still not yielded any results, prompting her to make the story public as she considers legal action.
“Appropriate action”
An easyJet spokesperson said: “Safety is our highest priority, and our cabin crew are trained to ensure that the safety of the flight is not compromised. We do not tolerate disruptive behaviour and will always take appropriate action against any passengers who are disruptive onboard, as we did in this case.”
The carrier’s terms and conditions state that “appropriate action” in some instances can include banning violent and disruptive passengers – a policy implemented against all those involved in the Karate Kid fight.
Unnamed sources contradict the mother’s version of events, giving The Sun accounts that describe both families’ behaviour on board the flight as abusive.
