A Ryanair flight departing from Agadir, Morocco, had to be diverted shortly after takeoff when two families started brawling in the aisles. As the London-bound flight was boarding, two families got into an argument over their seats, according to The Sun.
The argument began when a male passenger asked a woman to switch seats with him because he wanted to sit closer to his family. The woman refused to give up her seat, telling the man she was sitting next to her daughter. The man started to threaten the woman but eventually sat in his assigned seat.
Once the plane was at cruising altitude and the seat belt signs were turned off, the woman's husband confronted the man who threatened her. The two men exchanged punches, prompting other members of their families to join in the melee.
"They were trying to punch each other. One of the families was part of a larger group, so other passengers started to join in," a passenger told The Sun. "Then, a lady in the row behind started to have a panic attack because of everything going on. She was screaming and there were kids crying. It was like a snowball effect."
As the flight crew tried to break up the fight, the pilot decided to make an emergency landing in Marrakesh, Morocco.
"It was so stressful. It was like the flight from hell," the passenger explained. "And it all escalated from that one passenger wanting to change seats."
When the plane landed, nine people were removed by the police. Another passenger, who became ill during the flight, was treated by medical staff, who determined he was not healthy enough to fly. However, he refused to leave the plane, forcing police to remove him as well.
The entire ordeal lasted about two hours, causing the flight crew to time out. As a result, all the passengers were booked in a hotel room for the night and rebooked on a flight to London the next day.