Footage of black woman being verbally abused draws criticism of cabin crew
Video footage of a white man verbally abusing an elderly black woman on a Ryanair flight preparing to take off has been shared thousands of times on Facebook.
The video, filmed on Friday afternoon on an aircraft at Barcelona due to fly to Stansted, has prompted outrage among viewers because flight attendants seemingly failed to reprimand the man or remove him.
The male passengers uses a series of expletives during his rant at the 77-year-old woman, who is disabled.
He then tells staff to move the woman to another seat, then tells the woman: "If you don’t go to another seat I’ll push you to another seat."
David Lawrence, the passenger who filmed the footage told Sky News cabin crew did little to deal with the situation, although at one point one staff member says: "Don’t be so rude okay, you have to calm down."
Mr Lawrence told Sky News: "I’m so disappointed in Ryanair. They’ve done nothing.
"They’ve reported it to the police only after the media explosion, it’s been two days."
The woman’s daughter, who was travelling with her, said the man got angry because her mum, who has arthritis, took some time to move out of the way so he could reach his seat.
Ryanair has reported the incident to Essex Police, who said on Sunday: "This incident, which we were made aware of this morning, is believed to have taken place on a plane at Barcelona Airport.
"Essex Police takes prejudice-based crime seriously and we want all incidents to be reported.
"We are working closely with Ryanair and the Spanish authorities on the investigation."
Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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