'Everyone Was Fed Up': Passengers Stranded For 17 Hours After Couple Caught Smoking Mid-Air

Last Updated:July 12, 2025, 19:49 IST

A TUI Airways flight from Cancun to London was diverted to Bangor, Maine after a couple was caught smoking mid-flight. Passengers were stranded for 17 hours.

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An irresponsible act by a couple in a London-bound flight left passengers stranded for over 17 hours. The incident reported on July 8 drew a lot of criticism with people questioning the civic sense among travellers. As a report in New York Post, the flight had to divert after a couple were caught smoking in the bathroom mid-flight.

TUI Airways flight BY49, bound for London’s Gatwick Airport, took off from Cancun, Mexico, but had to be diverted to Bangor International Airport in Maine due to this incident. The plane landed at around 9:30 p.m. local time. As per the report, the couple caught smoking were supposedly drunk and were taken away by the authorities.

However, the other passengers on board had to wait till the paperwork was completed. The flight that landed at 9:30 p.m. could depart at 3 p.m. next day, after 17 hours of wait.

British passenger Terry Lawrance, 66, shared that travellers were required to remain seated for an additional five hours. The original flight crew was unable to continue the journey, as doing so would have exceeded their legally permitted working hours. Consequently, a relief crew had to be dispatched from the United Kingdom to the United States to complete the flight.

The situation deteriorated further when passengers were relocated to a confined lounge area, which Lawrance described as part of the airport’s military airbase section. They landed around 9:30 p.m. that evening, after which the two smokers were escorted off the plane. “They were obviously drunk, and he basically assaulted his partner," Lawrance was quoted by New York Post as saying.

“We were sat on the plane on the ground for five hours — the plane started taxiing again and we thought ‘great’ and then they said there was a problem with flight plan, and we have to get off," he said. “Next thing, we’re not going anywhere," he added further.

Location :

London, United Kingdom (UK)

First Published:

News world 'Everyone Was Fed Up': Passengers Stranded For 17 Hours After Couple Caught Smoking Mid-Air