Lily Ifield, 79, and her daughter were accused of ‘unacceptable’ behaviour after complaining about the ‘soggy’ and ‘cold’ sarnie on a Jet2 flight from London to Bodrum, Turkey
A mortified gran uttered eight words as she was escorted off a flight and arrested by armed police – for complaining about a £9 sandwich.
Lily Ifield, 79, and her daughter were accused of “unacceptable” behaviour and warned they could be blacklisted by all UK airlines after complaining about the overpriced snack, the pair claim. However, Lily believes the bap served on a Jet2 flight from London Stansted Airport to Bodrum, Turkey, was inedible, “soggy” and “cold”.
Cabin crew allegedly retorted “this isn’t a restaurant – it’s a plane” and called for officers armed with guns and batons to escort the passenger from the plane in Bodrum on Sunday November 3. Lily, who is a retired secretary recalled the moment she was escorted from the plane – ruining a four-day break to celebrate a family member’s birthday. “The police were standing at the entrance to the plane, waiting with guns like we were master criminals. We had no idea what we had done.”
She added: “I was turning round to people, saying ‘I think I’ve been arrested over a sandwich. The steward said, ‘will you shut up’ he said, ‘I don’t want you talking’. I said ‘excuse me, I can talk as much as I like’. We were being treated like convicts over a bap.”
Speaking of the incident, Jet2 says passengers exhibited “disruptive and unpleasant behaviour” on the plane and cabin crew had to call police. However, after allegedly frogmarching Lily and her daughter through the airport, officers eventually dropped the case – after realising “how stupid the argument was”.
Lily, who lives alone in Ware, Hertfordshire, continued: “We were so upset we just stayed in our room for four days. We felt sick with worry. It ruined our holiday. All over a flipping tuna sandwich. No-one would have eaten that.”
The mother and daughter, who are nervous fliers, shared four mini bottles of wine on the flight to calm their anxiety – spending £50 before refusing to pay for the tuna sandwich, reports The Sun. Lily denies the airline’s claims she and her daughter smuggled alcohol on board. The Mirror has contacted Jet2 for more information about these claims and comment on Lily’s complaint.
A spokeswoman for the airline told the newspaper: “We can confirm that these customers displayed continued disruptive and unpleasant behaviour on board flight LS1609 from London Stansted to Bodrum, including the illicit consumption of alcohol that had been purchased in duty free and brought on board.
“As a result, police met the aircraft on arrival at Bodrum to escort Mrs Ifield and her daughter off the aircraft. As a family-friendly airline, we take a zero-tolerance approach to such behaviour, and we make it very clear that customers cannot consume their own alcohol on flights.
“We will always support our crew in instances when they are subjected to disruptive, rude or unpleasant behaviour while prioritising the comfort of all customers and crew so that they can enjoy their flight.”
