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Original poster

To think this racist should have been kicked off this RyanAir flight?

389 replies

WickedGoodDoge · 21/10/2018 10:44

I’m not going to repeat the language this passenger used here, but basically he refused to sit next to a black passenger resulting in her being moved and staff asking the man if he was OK once she was moved.

RyanAir have released a terse statement saying it’s been referred to Essex Police

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/amp/entry/daughter-of-ryanair-racist-abuse-victim-speaks-out-following-on-flight-attack_uk_5bcb4379e4b055bc94811e92/

OP posts:
Volant · 22/10/2018 00:39

What difference does it make if the police were waiting at the airport for the flight or picked the man up from his home the next day, it doesn't change the punishment. Police are very stretched and have to prioritise

The difference is that picking him up the next day wasn't going to happen until this video went viral. Left to RyanAir, no further steps would have been taken.

If you're worrying about police manpower, it's a hell of a lot more efficient for the airport police who are already on the premises to collect this man as he comes off the plane, than it is for other police to have to schlep out to his house and hope that he's in when they turn up.

C0ll4p53 · 22/10/2018 02:59

Wow ok this thread blew up with all kinds of accusations.

First and foremost, the guy who uploaded this has his own agenda, that's plain as day from his twitter feed.

My brother was on this flight, he wasn't sitting near the incident but from what people were saying that were and spoke of this incident were saying, the guy repeatedly ask the lady if she could move so he could get his bag in the overhead compartment, she refused and even started having a go at him in which he then shouted at her. The daughter come over and started shouting at him calling him names, that is when it escalated and pretty much where the video starts.

Now the guy is banged to rights because he used racist language, but this incident is by no means about a mean old racist who verbally attacked an innocent old lady.

This guy who uploaded this and the media (once again) have spun a situation (funny enough involving race) to cause all kinds of madness on social media. People still unbelievably fall for it. Now the guy is banged to rights, he should not have used racist language and for that he will no doubt get prosecuted for. However, what my brother was saying was that this was by no means a good vs bad scenario. People need to stop viewing a video title "evil person doing [insert evil behaviour]" and thinking that is it. There is always a story behind it, this type of hysteria gets us nowhere. Politicians take advantage of it. People pick sides and go on the defensive. All hell breaks loose.

The guy was wrong and should be prosecuted, but there was more to this than just an evil racist and a sweet old lady.

Grrrt · 22/10/2018 03:31

Nice third-hand story but it doesn’t match up with what the eyewitness said.

“David Lawrence, who filmed what happened, told BBC Radio 5 Live: "Everything was calm, we were getting ready to take off. And then a man came on board and arrived at his seat, then spoke very harshly to a woman sitting in the aisle seat.

"That was what got my attention as it was very loud and very aggressive. He started to shout at the woman, saying 'get out of the way', 'move your feet', 'you shouldn't be sitting here'."

Mr Lawrence said no attendants initially came over. The woman's daughter, who had been sitting elsewhere, arrived and "an argument started", he said.

"He pushed past the woman and went to his seat," he said, adding that what's seen in the video then unfolded - describing it as the "most disgusting exchange of racial slurs and foul language”

And she didn’t move quickly because she had arthritis.

Roussette · 22/10/2018 07:32

Saying she had to wait until police customer services was open in essex makes little sense when they have email reporting and it needed to be done in Spain anyway. She didn't need to wait for Ryanair to do anything

The daughter told the aircrew she was not happy and she wanted to take it further. At that point I imagine the flight had left. What should she do... ring Barcelona police from the plane and tell them to turn round? She had no choice. They told her to ring Customer Services on Monday.

The woman had got to the plane in a wheelchair, she obviously wasn't quick enough to let the man in. Whatever happened, the man used vile racist language. That is fact. And Ryanair didn't do anythig about it until the footage went viral. That's fact too. And both those things are wrong.

the guy repeatedly ask the lady if she could move so he could get his bag in the overhead compartment
Why does she have to move so he can do this? You don't. You just reach up and put it in. If there's space.

Volant · 22/10/2018 07:32

The problem with that little story, C0ll4p53, is that no-one needs to move out of a seat to enable people to get to the overhead compartments.

Roussette · 22/10/2018 07:34

Meant to say... they told her to ring Ryanair customer service, not police customer service. They were really fobbing her off.

SausageOnAFork · 22/10/2018 07:37

C0ll4p53

So you brother was on the flight and didn’t see it but this is what other people told him, then he told you?
No he is a racist old man being racist and little more. Your knowledge of this is no better than anyone else’s.

Also the phrase is ‘bang to rights’ and doesn’t mean what you seem to think it does.

Aridane · 22/10/2018 07:47

You would have to be a contortionist to put luggage in the overhead bin from anything other than an aisle seat!

Roussette · 22/10/2018 07:52

You just put it in from the gangway. I don't understand. He hadn't sat down, had he? According to C0ll4p53 he wanted to put his luggage in the overhead locker but wanted the woman to move to do so. There's no need for that. Unless he'd sat down with his luggage and then wanted to get out the seat, I've no idea.

OhDearGodLookAtThisMess · 22/10/2018 07:56

But this is the thing. We don't know how it played out!! Which is why there needs to be a proper enquiry into it.
Sure, ordinarily one can put one's bag into an overhead locker without affecting anyone in the seat below. Seems like an open and shut case. BUT, who knows? Maybe the man had arrived earlier than her, dumped his bag in his window seat, gone to the loo (or somewhere) and returned to find her in his way. Unlikely? Perhaps. But WE DON'T KNOW! Hence an investigation. Doesn't excuse the abusive language (and how many more times does it have to be explained that even if this man had any sort of LD it still does not excuse him) but if any action is to be taken, the facts have to be found.

Roussette · 22/10/2018 08:08

OhDearGod Have you ever been on Ryanair?! You don't dump bags and go off to the loo! You are herded to your seat, the loos aren't available. That applies to any flight with any low cost carrier.

Totally agree there needs to be a proper enquiry into it. Which Ryanair tried to brush under the carpet. Without footage that would've happened.

Birdsgottafly · 22/10/2018 08:08

It's been said this morning that the Man does have a medical condition (some are saying Dementia) which is why he wasn't put off the flight. The Crew knew of his condition and the two passengers together, were bouncing off each other.

Both needed assistance.

So I'm reserving opinion. Brain I juries and conditions do change how we behave. So does pain/limited movement etc, which is what the Woman had.

Birdsgottafly · 22/10/2018 08:11

Also, I think they've got to rethink putting passengers who need Wheelchairs on first and taking them off last.

OhDearGodLookAtThisMess · 22/10/2018 08:13

Roussette, Yes, I've been on Ryanair, although I try to avoid it as a general rule. Did you not understand that my point was a hypothetical example of the fact that all might not have been as assumed by the Twitter mob watching a video clip that started part-way through the altercation?

Birdsgottafly · 22/10/2018 08:14

Just read the Twitter feed.

Some people are now saying that perhaps those with some conditions shouldn't be allowed to fly, without seeing the irony of that.

Roussette · 22/10/2018 08:20

I agree Ohdeargod and I have managed to avoid Ryanair too, despite flying lots. I get what you're saying and also tried to make the point, with customers pouring on, you can't just wander off somewhere, you can't get anywhere. You get on and you take your seat. But we both agree, this needs to be looked into

TheFairyCaravan · 22/10/2018 08:22

If he couldn't have put his luggage in the overhead locker without causing a disabled woman to move from his seat he should have called for a member of the cabin crew and they would have assisted him. There was absolutely no need for him to be so rude and aggressive.

He's coming across as someone who thinks it's their world, it revolves round them and the rest of us have to fit in with him. It doesn't work like that.

That poor woman must have felt awful for the rest of the flight. I would have been on pins if it had been me. Yes, they'd moved her, but he was still able to get out of his seat and go to the loo or stretch his legs so I bet she couldn't relax. Ryan Air handled this incident so badly.

OhDearGodLookAtThisMess · 22/10/2018 08:27

FairyCaravan, That is why it could be relevant that he MIGHT have had some some of medical/mental impairment, meaning that normal social norms of thinking to ask cabin crew for help didn't cross his mind. Perhaps that's not severe enough to warrant a permanent companion when travelling, but even if he had had one, who could stop those vile things coming out of his mouth? The bloke in the row behind tried to intervene and calm him down and get him to stop the abuse, but to no avail.

IfyouseeRitaMoreno · 22/10/2018 08:30

None of that excuses the language he used towards her.

Shouldn’t be tolerated.

Birdsgottafly · 22/10/2018 08:31

"He's coming across as someone who thinks it's their world, it revolves round them and the rest of us have to fit in with him. It doesn't work like that"

We do make adjustments for people with disabilities. It seems that the argument started from boarding.

I agree that they shouldn't have been seated together and the airline is at fault. The Man needed a window seat and access. To put a non mobile person in the Isle seat was poor planning.

Birdsgottafly · 22/10/2018 08:32

IfyouseeRitaMoreno, it does. Brain conditions causes all sorts of behaviour.

OhDearGodLookAtThisMess · 22/10/2018 08:33

Graphista, "A few posters HAVE said that maybe his behaviour was due to LD/MI/autism - which is a pile of steaming bollocks!!"
No one has attributed it to Autism (someone assumed that it had been said, but it wasn't) and no one has excused the behaviour.

OhDearGodLookAtThisMess · 22/10/2018 08:39

IfyouseeRitaMoreno "None of that excuses the language he used towards her." That has been acknowledged a gazillion times now.

But, IF, as has now been reported, he has Dementia, I believe that one of the signs of that, can sometimes be that people can be verbally aggressive.
Disclaimer (once again): this does not make it any less shocking, or excuse it!!

Holdingonbarely · 22/10/2018 08:57

Black Bitch is very specific. Does Dementia mean you start saying things you’d never say before in your life? Because you weren’t a racist before? Highly unlikely.

She could have been a right pain in the arse. And made him angry. But You just can’t use race to attack someone.

Volant · 22/10/2018 09:06

Sure, ordinarily one can put one's bag into an overhead locker without affecting anyone in the seat below. Seems like an open and shut case. BUT, who knows? Maybe the man had arrived earlier than her, dumped his bag in his window seat, gone to the loo (or somewhere) and returned to find her in his way. Unlikely? Perhaps. But WE DON'T KNOW! Hence an investigation

Not unlikely, impossible. You can't wander off to the loo immediately on boarding, and the story given above is that he was allegedly trying to put his bag in the overhead locker, not that he was trying to retrieve it.