Vueling passengers stop plane taking off in protest over migrant's deportation
Sunday, July 16, 2017 @ 11:16 PM
A GROUP of passengers staged a mutiny on a plane at Barcelona airport in protest over a Senegalese immigrant being deported.
They managed to stop the Vueling flight, en route to Dakar, from taking off – but not indefinitely, since it left several hours later with the migrant still on board.
It was due to leave El Prat de Llobregat airport at 16.30 yesterday (Saturday), but when passengers heard the African man wailing in distress and found out what was happening, all 176 of them – moved by compassion for his plight – decided to stop the aircraft from taking off.
They all stood up, refusing to sit down and put their seatbelts on, saying they would not do so until the Senegalese man was allowed to stay.
After an hour and a half of protesting, the Guardia Civil boarded the aircraft and forced every single passenger to get off the plane.
Officers identified six of those who had started the protest and rallied the others, and they were cautioned and banned from flying.
Low-cost Barcelona-based airline Vueling mainly runs intra-European flights, but one connection a week links Barcelona with the Senegalese capital of Dakar.
And given how late the flight took off, the return plane from Dakar to Barcelona was unable to fly last night as the pilots and crew would have exceeded their maximum-allowed working hours.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com