This article is from the archive of our partner .
Nothing is as frustrating as being cooped up on an airplane that is stuck on the runway amid never-ending delays. But something holds people back from taking it out on the plane crew, namely, the life-preserving instinct not to aggravate those responsible for keeping the plane in the air after take-off. But passengers aboard a Middle East Airlines flight at Heathrow had no such concerns, and staged a mutiny that one passenger compared to the "Lord of the Flies," the Daily Mail reports.
The Beirut-bound flight, with 230 passengers aboard, had to abort a 5pm takeoff on Thursday from Heathrow Airport after already missing its original 1pm departure due to a thunderstorm. As waiting time approached seven hours, the passengers started to crack. One passenger told the Daily Mail that "the atmosphere was very tense and a middle-aged man told the crew member he was an idiot... and that was when the pushing and shoving began. The captain came out once and I told him he had failed in his duty, to which he replied I should fly the plane."
Things turned to chaos from there. "Disgruntled passengers argued with crew, raided the galleys and started ‘pushing and shoving,’ name-calling, and engaging in 'fisticuffs,'" another witness said. "People are hysterical." Meals were stolen from the galleys. A Lebanese woman passenger was said to have suffered "heart palpitations," and a 50-year-old male passenger became "so worked up" he needed to be given oxygen.