Witnesses said a middle-aged woman was speaking loudly on her phone, disrupting fellow passengers on the flight scheduled to depart at 2 a.m. on April 22.
When another passenger asked her to lower her voice, she allegedly accused the individual of secretly filming her and demanded the footage be deleted, according to Singapore’s Stomp news site.
The situation escalated when cabin crew intervened.
A male flight attendant attempted to calm the situation, asking the passenger, in English, to remain composed as the aircraft prepared for departure. However, the exchange appeared to further intensify the confrontation.
In videos shared on social media by other passengers, the woman can be heard saying: “Shouldn’t a cabin crew on board an international flight be able to speak in Mandarin? If he can’t even speak basic Mandarin, he doesn’t deserve to be in the service industry,” Channel News Asia reported.
AirAsia Airbus A320-200 planes are seen on the tarmac of Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2) in Sepang, Malaysia, Feb. 4, 2020. Photo by Reuters |
She also claimed to be a flight attendant for a major Chinese airline and criticized the crew’s handling of the situation.
At one point, the passenger reportedly refused to allow the aircraft to depart unless her concerns were resolved on the spot. The situation led to the aircraft returning to the parking bay, after which local authorities were alerted and the passenger was removed for safety reasons.
The flight departed 1 hour and 22 minutes behind schedule, arriving in Kuala Lumpur at 8:22 a.m.
Benyamin Ismail, General Manager of AirAsia X, said: “We commend our crew onboard for their professionalism in managing the situation in line with established procedures and also the local authorities for a swift response to ensure the safety of all our guests,” as quoted by AsiaOne.
The incident sparked debate online, with many users criticizing the passenger’s behavior.
“It’s an international flight. Of course they’d speak English. If you were a cabin crew as you claimed, you’d know electronic devices are prohibited during takeoff and landing,” one commenter wrote.
Others defended the airline staff, noting their professionalism in handling a tense situation.
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