Heavily pregnant mum and disabled child kicked off plane
Siobhan Foster, her husband, and their disabled child were kicked off their flight after she was accused of being "aggressive" by a flight attendant.
Foster, who is seven months pregnant, was onboard an easyJet flight to Ibiza to celebrate her brother's wedding.
She struggled to find room for her carry-on in the overhead baggage compartment, so she asked a flight attendant to help her find space, but the response was reportedly "a sharp ‘Clearly Not’", which eventually led to a dispute.
When things escalated, all 180 passengers were eventually told to disembark.
One of Foster's outraged friends posted the video on social media, and the Newtonabbey mum was seen collecting hand luggage while struggling to carry her toddler.
“We’re being thrown off the plane today because of somebody thinking they’re better than everyone else,” the friend said.
The easyJet stewardess responded: “Bye, bye bye," as the upset family walked down the stairs.
Foster took to Facebook to complain about her experience with "sleezy jet".
“So, I asked could you help me find somewhere, her reply was ‘You’ll need to find somewhere yourself’ even though there literally was nowhere," she wrote.
She then claimed that she asked for help again, because she was heavily pregnant, to which the flight attendant allegedly said: "You’re being abusive and it’s not my job to help you.”
Another flight attendant reportedly backed up her co-worker, but Foster argued that other airlines have been more helpful as she is pregnant.
“Writing this, I understand it would make you think was I being abusive, but I honestly wasn’t and the whole plane can vouch for me,” Foster wrote. “People were actually putting this on [Facebook] about how bad I was treated.”
After eventually finding a place for her bag, the pregnant mum was allegedly confronted by two other crew members who also accused her of being “aggressive.”
Foster decided to ignore them because she was "crying" and "so upset," but the flight attendant reportedly started raising her voice.
They were then kicked off, and were told it was because of Foster's aggression, but when Foster’s mum and brother asked for an exact reason, the crew members allegedly couldn't give them a direct response.
After an hour, everyone had to disembark and the family were met by eight police officers and two Swissport employees and were told they would not be allowed back on the flight, despite other passengers being allowed back in.
“So, that whole day we were in Belfast airport from one lunchtime to nine that night with our child, my legs were so swollen and sore with being on them all this time I was crying uncontrollably that this was happening to us for no reason whatsoever.
“I’m so traumatized to the point I don’t know how I’ll ever fly again,” she wrote on Facebook.
EasyJet has denied any wrongdoing and a spokesperson told the Daily Mail that "a group of passengers were "behaving disruptively."
“EasyJet’s cabin crew and ground agents are trained to assess and evaluate all situations and to act quickly and appropriately to ensure that the safety of the flight and other passengers is not compromised at any time.
“The Captain took the decision to ask all passengers on the flight to return to the terminal so the situation could be resolved and as soon as it was they re-boarded and the aircraft continued to Ibiza.”
Despite the incident, the Foster family eventually made it to Ibiza the next day, just in time for the wedding, after catching a RyanAir flight out of Dublin.
“Thankfully we got to Ibiza and made my brother’s wedding to say how stressed, upset, and overwhelmed I’ve been I honestly think I’ve no words,” she wrote.
“EasyJet should be ashamed of themselves and I most definitely am taking this further, I’m still in shock of how we were treated especially being seven months pregnant and having a disabled child with us.”
Images: Facebook