WINGING IT
Extraordinary moment pilot asks passengers to decide which airport they want to disembark with show of hands after delay
THIS is the extraordinary moment a pilot asks passengers to decide which airport they wanted to disembark at with a show of hands.
The captain appears to have left it up to passengers to pick where they would leave the easyJet aircraft after being held up by delays.
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The plane missed its arrival time at Gatwick Airport in London, and instead touched down on the runway at Luton.
The crew decided to allow holidaymakers the chance to jump ship or fly to another location, but warned staying would carry delays of "more than an hour".
Footage recorded by a passenger captured the easyJet pilot's astonishing announcement instructing people to decide.
He can be heard saying: "We do not currently know what the Air Traffic Control restriction would be heading towards Gatwick, so we would assume that that would be over an hour.
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"So first, we would like to ask those of you who would like to leave the aircraft here at London Luton to please put your hands up."
The question was quickly met by a massive show of hands, as exhausted Brits appeared desperate to disembark.
Some sneaky travellers even appeared to raise two hands in hopes of swaying the poll.
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One man can be heard remarking: "This is a joke. He may as well play rock paper scissors!"
A stewardess is then seen walking down the aisle among the sea of hands, counting the number of people who wanted to leave at Luton.
The impromptu announcement left passengers, many with children, baffled.
It is unclear where the flight had departed from.
Passenger Mohammed Hussain said the chaos only continued.
He told The Sun: "We couldn't get off the plane for two hours as there was no bus to take us from the plane to the terminal due to shortage of staff.
"Then at 6am our luggage turned up. easyJet made us wait around at the airport trying to sort taxis.
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"And at half 8 in the morning, they got us a 3-hour taxi to home.
"We had kids and families were sitting around in the airport waiting for so long almost 200 passengers. Worst experience ever."
An easyJet spokeswoman said: "This video is taken after the aircraft has landed at Luton and, given its proximity to Gatwick, the pilot is asking if any customers wish to disembark the aircraft or continue to Gatwick warning of a potential air traffic control delay.
"While air traffic restrictions are outside of our control, we are sorry for any inconvenience this will have caused."
Social media users were stunned by the bizarre ballot, with one describing the flight fiasco as "airport roulette".
One commented: "Someone should have defo made an executive decision lol, what foolishness is this."
Another said: "Majority wins, so less complaints. Power to the people."
A third added: "What the? My first thought was someone will be loosing/leaving luggage. How the heck is this even legit!
"So the remaining ten people will be delayed even longer?"
And a fourth added: "Imagine if your car was parked at Gatwick, I'd be fuming."
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EasyJet cancelled a string of flights this week as air traffic controllers walked out across France.
The budget airline has not yet confirmed how many journeys have been impacted.
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