Ryanair crew locks toilets, turns out lights and leaves plane as passengers stage sit-in

Last Wednesday, more than 100 furious Ryanair passengers refused to leave their parked plane after a last-minute diversion from Paris to a Belgian airport 225 miles up north. In an attempt to convince the passengers to leave the plane, the crew locked the toilets, turned out the lights and left the plane. What would you have done, as a passenger and as a crew member?

What happened? The jet carrying mainly French travelers had left Fez in Morocco with a three-hour delay. As a result of this delay and/or as a result of heavy fog in Paris (opinions differ) the jet couldn't land in Paris. Consequently, the plane was diverted to a Belgian airport 225 miles up north.

Passengers on board were angry about the delay, about the last-minute diversion and most notably about the fact that they were not properly informed about the diversion. As a response, they staged a sit-in. Since the crew was off-duty when they touched ground and since they couldn't convince the passengers to leave the plane, they locked the toilets, turned out the lights and left the plane on the tarmac, reportedly with the cockpit door open.

The situation got ugly soon. Since the crew was not allowed to work anymore and since Ryanair had no staff at the airport, it was up to airport officials to lure the passengers out of the plane into the more comfortable transit lounge. There they could wait for the coaches that would bring them to their final destination. After more than four hours of negotiations, at 4 o'clock this morning, the passengers finally gave in. Some of them, however, were still so upset that they assaulted and spit at the airport personnel when they left the plane.

In a statement later today, Ryanair thanked all passengers who left the plane according to instructions. At the same time, they condemned the attitude of the majority of people on the plane. In my opinion, both parties lost. Since I still can't get my head around this surreal story, I am asking you: How would you have handled this situation, as a passenger and as a crew member? I look forward to hearing your thoughts.