Two passengers late for their flight have been arrested by German cops after trying to chase the plane down on the runway of an airport.
The two men, aged 28 and 47, were seen sprinting across the tarmac at Cologne Bonn Airport on Friday in an attempt to catch a Wizz Air flight.
The plane, bound for Romania, was seen with red flashing lights on and its engines running, indicating that it was in the middle of taxiing for its 9.30pm departure.
But the two men appeared to signal to the pilot that they wanted to be onboard the plane.
An airport employee was seen approaching the men and intervening.
Despite the delay, the plane managed to take off only a few minutes later, and ended up landing ahead of schedule in Bucharest.
German cops said the gate, B70, had already closed. They alleged that the two men smashed the glass of an emergency alarm at 9.33pm and pressed a button to open the door to the tarmac.
Federal police spokesperson Oliver Hünewinckell told Bild: ‘Criminal charges for trespassing have been filed against the men; a violation of the Air Security Act is still being investigated’.
A spokesperson for Cologne Bonn airport told the newspaper: ‘We can confirm that on Friday evening, two passengers gained unauthorised access to the apron via an emergency exit after passing through security.
‘The two were apprehended by airport staff and handed over to the Federal Police. Cologne/Bonn Airport has initiated legal proceedings.
‘Aviation security at the airport was never compromised, and flight operations were not affected’.
It comes after a Ryanair passenger who locked himself in the toilet and shouted homophobic slurs at cabin crew after they took too long to bring him his sandwich was handed a suspended sentence.
Dublin District Court today heard how Gerard Moorehouse, 45, delayed landing for several minutes and compromised the flight’s safety after he barricaded himself in a bathroom stall.
Moorehouse, who was found guilty of threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour on an aircraft, was given a three-month suspended sentence and ordered to pay a €1,500 fine.
The father-of-two told the court he needed the bathroom due to bowel problems and claimed he was discriminated against by cabin crew for being a Traveller on the August 15 flight from London Gatwick to Dublin.
But the court heard how a ‘demanding’ Moorehouse, of Piercetown, Newbridge, Co Kildare, used the call bell multiple times before cabin crew were able to take his food order.
After being told his toastie would be a 10-15 minute wait, he reportedly became ‘aggressive and hostile’ and said to two cabin crew members, ‘are you gay?’.
One staff member told the court: ”I tried to reason with him but it didn’t work. He called us f****ts multiple times and told us to f**k off.
‘He verbally threatened me, saying there will be a fight if he does not get his sandwich now.’
