Korean woman’s expletive-laden tirade forces Polish Airlines flight to make emergency landing in Kazakhstan
A flight from Hungary to South Korea reportedly had to make an emergency landing in Kazakhstan because of unruly behaviour by a passenger.
According to The Korea Times, a South Korean woman, whose identity has not been revealed, went on an expletive-laden rant that made the operation of the flight difficult.
Quoting aviation industry sources, the newspaper noted that the woman was arrested upon landing at Kazakhstan’s Astana airport.
The reason for her outburst wasn’t immediately clear.
LOT Polish Airlines flight LO2001 was scheduled to arrive at Seoul’s Incheon International Airport at around 9.30am local time but had to make an emergency landing in Kazakhstan. The flight resumed its journey after almost five hours.
There were 183 passengers on the flight.
Hankook Ilbo, a Korean daily, reported that a video circulating on social media and broadcast by YTN channel on 23 April shows fellow passengers trying to restrain the woman who continues to curse. It is not clear from the video who her tirade is directed at.
“Despite the crew’s attempts to intervene, the disruptions and swearing continued, causing a lot of confusion,” a South Korean passenger on the flight was quoted as saying. “We were concerned that we would be detained in Kazakhstan instead of arriving in Korea to settle our affairs.”
The South Korean embassy in Kazakhstan is cooperating with the local police to investigate the matter, local media reported.
“The crew of flight LO2001 on the 22nd of April, travelling from Budapest to Seoul, opted to make a landing in Astana due to a passenger’s disruptive behaviour. Following the intervention by the appropriate authorities, the flight resumed and reached Seoul with a delay of three hours. Any potential grievances concerning the flight’s diversion to an alternate airport will be addressed by the Legal Department subsequent to a review of the incident,” the airline said in a statement to The Independent.
In February last year, it was reported that a LOT Polish Airlines passenger removed his pants and urinated on the plane’s door during a New York-Warsaw flight.
