'Unruly' passenger ejected from CemAir flight in Durban

CemAir says a flight departing from King Shaka International Airport in Durban was delayed for 90 minutes on Sunday because of a passenger who became “unruly and abusive”, refusing to “follow the lawful instructions of the cabin crew member”. 

The airline said when the cabin crew member determined she was unable to reason with the “late boarded” passenger, she informed the captain. 

“The captain shut down the already running engines and attempted to persuade the passenger to comply with the safety regulations on board the aircraft. When the captain could not reason with the passenger either, the matter was handed over to the SA Police Service and the passenger was removed from the aircraft,” CemAir said. 

It said while under police escort from the aircraft, the passenger freed herself and attempted to gain access to the aircraft flight deck.

“This is a serious offence. CemAir will support the police in their further investigation and potential prosecution of the matter.” 

The airline apologised to its passengers whose flight to Johannesburg was delayed. However, it said the aircraft could not possibly have departed with the passenger on board refusing to comply with aviation safety regulations.

However, a passenger who alleged they were on the flight presented a different version to the one presented by CemAir. 

The passenger wrote on Hellopeter.com that “a fellow passenger was discriminated against” by a cabin crew member because of a harmless personal phone call that she engaged in with a friend before the flight took off.

“She was racially profiled and forced to get out of her plane. And the airline goes on to lie on their release statement that the passenger was unruly and did not obey safety rules. Which we all witnessed was not true at all. All she did was talk to her friend on the phone.” 

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