Due to drunk passengers, we had to stop in Delhi on the way to Bangkok from Paris with Air France

We go to South-East Asia every year to spend our vacation, but our destination this time seems much further than normal.

Our flight from Montreal to Paris departed more than two hours behind schedule, but encouragingly the flight to Bangkok left Paris at 15:45 on time which made us happy because it shortened the waiting time at CDG airport in Paris. I like flying with Air France, but the transit at CDG airport was not pleasant. We had to wait for the security check more than we should have waited. My boyfriend calmly complained to the guy standing behind the security counter, I am not going to write the detail, but they need to improve their efficiency. When we arrived in Paris, they had started a huge national strike in France and our flight from Montreal could have been affected by the strike. I think if they want to work less per week and retire earlier, they should be more organised and work efficiently.

Anyway, our flight bound for Bangkok was on time. I like Air France because I can always have decent wine and cheese, the food was delicious enough even though I take the economy class. We thought that we would be in the sticky Bangkok air the next morning. However, it was not straightforward this time…

We had some wine and managed to sleep a little until an Irish guy who was walking along the narrow aisle back from the toilet bumped into my boyfriend’s seat when he was sleeping. My boyfriend jumped up and looked up at the guy. The drunk guy also looked down at my boyfriend and said;

“Are…, are you…are you going to BANGKOK?” “What a stupid question it is,” my boyfriend thought. We all were heading to Bangkok, but ironically, we ended up going to Delhi because of this guy.

He was completely drunk. That guy and his friend, Derek, were sitting on the seat on the right side of the plane three rows in front of us. When we were served dinner, I saw they had been drinking wine. They even couldn’t wait for being served by a cabin crew and the guy always stretched his arm to grab three bottles of wine every time the server wagon passed by them. After dinner, the cabin attendant opened three small bottles of amber liquid which might have been whisky or rum or cognac to give them.

No wonder they were drunk, but it was way too much. To be honest, they must have been drunk before they even boarded. The Irish guy started behaving strangely and he started making funny noises after he went back to his seat. The noise was loud enough to keep us awake. He was crying out like a wounded wild animal.

They were drunk, and especially the Irish man who was sick. The cabin crews had to bring lots of blankets and plastic bags to take care of their sickness. The flight time from Paris to Bangkok was 11 hours and 20 minutes and it was supposed to arrive at Bangkok airport at 9:15 am on local time. We all need to sleep. The light was switched off after dinner, but our sleep was disturbed by those drinkers. The guy never stopped making funny noises. This lasted around 5 hours!

The crews went to their seats many times and tried to take care of them. I saw one of the crew was taking a video of the “sick” passengers. And then, there was an announcement from the captain, saying that we were going to have an emergency landing in Delhi, India because of a medical emergency, not related to the drunks.

Our destination was Bangkok, not Delhi, but we couldn’t do anything because someone needed to have medical treatment. Initially, I thought that it was for the two drunk Irish people caused by too much alcohol, but we were informed by the crew that there was another person who needed to have medical assistance. Anyway, at this moment, we were not sure if the captain meant it was really a “medical emergency” or it was because of their behaviour.

The destination on the screen changed to DEL from BKK, and soon we started our descent. It was an unwanted landing, but I thought it would be good if we could sleep peacefully after removing those guys. Still, we knew that it would take time.

The plane landed at New Delhi airport at 4:37 local time. We were told to be seated during the disembarking. Some people came on the plane and went out and came in again. There was another person who had some problems. I could feel something was going on the far front side of the airplane, but I couldn’t see what it was. I was more interested in how they were going to those drunk people who must have been sleeping on their messy seats at that point.

As we had expected, some people got on to the plane and woke the drunk guys up who looked confused and didn’t understand what was happening. The two guys got up slowly and realised that they had to get out of the plane. One of the crew said to the Irish guy;

“Where is your passport?” “My passport? It’s in my jacket.” “Where is your jacket?”

The guy looked for his jacket, and other crews opened the luggage rooms to find their belongings. It took a while until he realised that his friend had his passport.

After some more hassles, the crews finally managed to get them off the plane without fighting or shouting. Some of the passengers behind our seats applauded. However, the story hadn’t ended.

Three Indian guys got into the plane to clean their seats. They collected a big bag of blankets which was used for stopping their puke from spreading, I suppose.

We imagined that the authority such as the airport police or something must have taken care of those guys and decided what they should do. I didn’t know if the Indian authorities were very organised or even if were on duty. Somehow, the guys who had just got off the plane came back onto the plane.

The cleaning was still going on. The Irish guy walked back to his seat and said; “Where is my phone?”

Three Indian guys and other crews of Air France helped him to find his phone. The cabin crew found his phone from the seat. When she handed it to him, he said; “That’s good. You are not stealing my phone.”

And then, he tried to stay in his seat and wouldn’t move. After they got out of the plane, they realised that they were not allowed to go to Bangkok. The Irish guy got up from his seat, but he stayed inside the plane by the door and talked with an Indian officer in uniform. His friend who should have not come back to the plane as well sneaked into the plane while crews and officers were paying attention to the Irish guy who had lost his phone. It was comical. The passengers didn’t want him on the plane, then they immediately informed to the officer that he had sneaked in. And finally, the two of them got off the plane and never came back. The passengers applauded again even louder, especially as the two Irish guys had made anti-French statements and told people in general to f*cK off.

We had to stay on the plane another an hour. The sky which was foggy and dark when we arrived was getting light. The chief of the cabin crew explained what was going on and that might be able to claim compensation from Air France because of the delay caused by the unruly passengers. The captain had said we are landing Delhi because we have a medical emergency and at the same time we need to restore law and order to the plane!

Our flight finally left Delhi at 7:20, after almost three hours, and we had to travel another three hours before standing under the warm Bangkok sunshine.

Originally published at https://backpack-traveler.com on December 8, 2019.