Rabat – On a Ryanair flight bound for the UK, passengers witnessed a fellow passenger ripping his passport to pieces and eating bits of it. Another passenger’s passport was found at the aircraft lavatory.

The hysterical behaviour of the first individual prompted other passengers to alert the cabin crew.

“Suddenly the whole mood changed – no one on board knew what was going on, these people were acting weird,” a passenger told The Sun. 

According to multiple media outlets, as the passenger was having an outburst, his companion rushed to the bathroom. The cabin crew immediately intervened by urging the passenger to open the door, which he did eventually. 

An emergency announcement was made immediately after the cabin crew realised that it was another attempt of tempering with official documents. 

The plane later diverted to Paris, and the two individuals were taken to custody by authorities. 

Different passengers later stated that they were terrified, as the events escalated quickly. The captain instantly made the decision to make an emergency landing in Paris, leaving the two individuals to the French authorities.

Passengers of the flight also expressed their gratitude to the staff members of the cabin crew of Ryanair. 

“I think Ryanair [was] brilliant in handling it in a certain way. They gave out drinks towards the end of the flight as we were coming in over Stansted,” one of the passengers said. 

Hysterical behavior is not unusual during flights; flying can easily trigger psychotic episodes or panic attacks in people with aerophobia.

What made this case a special one is the destruction of official documents that contain the identification of individuals who allegedly know each other and are planning to travel to a foreign country. 

The individuals are most probably either seeking asylum due to war or the fear of their government. 

Another explanation could be that they are seeking anonymity due to debt, crime, or other serious legal issues. It is very unlikely that this is another psychotic episode, which has disrupted flights in many other cases.