Did EasyJet Pilot Take 'Safety Vote' from Passengers?

Image: PHOTO: An easyJet plane on the runway at Glasgow Airport. (photo via Flickr/Jason Puddephatt)
Image: PHOTO: An easyJet plane on the runway at Glasgow Airport. (photo via Flickr/Jason Puddephatt)
Patrick Clarke
by Patrick Clarke
Last updated: 12:00 PM ET, Mon June 12, 2017

EasyJet is under fire following a moment of confusion aboard a delayed flight from Malaga to Bristol.

Passengers told the Daily Mail that the captain asked for them to vote on whether to take off even though there was a chance only one engine would be working.

One passenger said the pilot asked for a show of hands after the flight had already been delayed for nearly two days.

"He said we could stay on the plane-we'd been on it waiting for an hour at this point and been in Malaga for two nights extra already-or he'd see if we would be allowed to get off again," passenger Terri Hill told the Daily Mail.

"At this point there was a bit of a mutiny on the plane, an awful lot of shouting and people crying and demanding to get off. There were about 12 people who wanted to stay on, but the rest of us wanted to get off."

EasyJet denied that the pilot ever asked passengers if they wanted to take off.

"At no point did the pilot ask passengers to take a vote on flying the aircraft. Nor would we ever attempt to fly the aircraft without both engines working correctly," a spokesman said in a statement.

"The pilot attempted to use one engine to start the other engine as is normal procedure. Because he was aware that the passengers had already been considerably delayed due to a technical problem the pilot asked the passengers if they would like to get off or remain on board whilst the engine start up sequence continued."

A replacement aircraft was eventually flown in, and the flight finally reached its destination Saturday evening 40 hours behind schedule.

[READMORE] READ MORE: EasyJet Actually Fired A Flight Attendant Over a Bacon Sandwich [/READMORE]

The British budget carrier's rough weekend also included an emergency landing in Germany when a flight from Ljubljana to Stansted was diverted after passengers reported a suspicious conversation to the flight crew.

Authorities were alerted to a potential "terrorist conversation." The plane was evacuated in Cologne, and three men were arrested on suspicion of "state-threatening violence."


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Patrick Clarke

Patrick Clarke

Senior Editor

A Maryland native and wanderer who has lived across the U.S. from North Carolina to SoCal, Patrick Clarke graduated from Towson University with a B.S. in journalism. He previously worked for Bleacher

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