Overloaded Brit airline orders passengers off plane with threats of arrest

LONDON - British airline Easyjet is said to have threatened dozens of its passengers with arrest if they did not step off the plane, which was too heavy to take off.

The flight from Birmingham to Geneva had been over-fuelled by 10 tonnes of fuel, so the captain asked 37 customers, who were last to board the plane, to leave.

But when some passengers refused to leave they were informed that three police officers were waiting in the airport terminal and would arrest them if necessary.

And on top of that, the remaining passengers had no idea at all that their luggage had also been removed from the plane to decrease the weight.

Grandmother Jane Webb, 65, who was on board flight EZY1496 with a nine-strong party including her two daughters and four grandchildren, revealed the packed plane sat on the runway for half-an-hour before the captain announced he had some “bad news”.

Webb, who was heading for a skiing holiday in Saint Gervais, France, said the captain offered 100 pounds and overnight accommodation to anyone who offered to get off.

When biomedical scientist and her family touched down in Geneva after four hours of delay, they discovered their baggage was back in Birmingham.

“We had to buy all the essentials out in France - including thermal underwear and snow boots,” the Telegraph quoted her as saying.

“Easyjet has said it will pay us 25 pounds a day for every day we didn’t have our baggage. But it was such an inconvenience. The whole thing was a farce,” she stated.

Easyjet apologised to all passengers affected on the flight and said an investigation into the incident was still ongoing. (ANI)