Man allegedly sneaks onto airplane and barricades himself in the bathroom

A man allegedly managed to sneak onto a Vueling Airlines flight from Barcelona to Dublin on Monday.

According to reports, the man managed to make his way onto the aircraft without a boarding pass and with a fake passport before barricading himself in the airplane bathroom.

“An air hostess began asking everyone on the plane for their boarding passes and passports, passengers Mark Megarry and Paul Steward told Dublin Live. “The man was sitting in front of us and after the air hostess had checked ours, he jumped up out of his seat and ran.

“He pushed his way past the air hostess. A passenger near the back jumped out of their seat and tried to stop him also but he pushed them out of the way too and locked himself in the bathroom.”

Megarry and Steward explained the panic on the plane as some passengers thought that there might be some kind of bomb threat.

Passengers were required to be evacuated and a video shared by Yahoo News showed officials coming onboard and walking toward the back area of the aircraft.

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An airline representative told Travel + Leisure on Tuesday, “Vueling disembarked all passengers safely and proceeded to change aircraft so our customers were able to continue their journey to their destination. There was no impact on passengers and cabin crew and the local authorities were in full charge of the situation.”

Markus Mainka/Shutterstock

Flight VY 8720 was scheduled to leave at 12:40 pm local time but was reportedly delayed for almost three hours while authorities removed the stowaway.

The Barcelona Airport site confirmed that the flight was scheduled to leave at 12:40 pm but instead took off at 3:21 pm, where it arrived in Dublin at 5:23 pm local time.

In a statement sent to Mapped, Vueling Airlines explained the situation further:

During the boarding process of flight BCN-DUB VY8720 in Barcelona, our gate agents identified a passenger trying to board this flight with a false passport. Whilst waiting for the arrival of the authorities, this person managed to run towards the aircraft toilet and lock himself therein. Vueling disembarked all passengers safely and proceeded to change aircraft so our customers were able to continue their journey to their destination. There was no impact on passengers and cabin crew and the local authorities were in full charge of the situation.

Following the incident, a frustrated passenger tweeted about the airline’s lack of communication, asking Vueling, “When is someone going to come and let us know what is going on VY8720.”

Hello @vueling When is someone going to come and let us know what is going on VY8720 .😡

— Robert jacob (@jacobsfoodguide) November 11, 2019

Vueling responded and told the passenger that they were changing the flight and were “working in order to speed the process up. Our colleagues will inform you in the shortest time possible.”

It been over two hours and we are yet to hear from a staff of Vueling

— Robert jacob (@jacobsfoodguide) November 11, 2019

At this time, the man’s identity is not known, nor is it clear whether or not he will be facing charges.