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An EasyJet flight to Tenerife, packed with rowdy British twenty-somethings, was forced to turn around and land at Gatwick this morning after a hydraulic failure occurred in mid-air.
EasyJet flight U28033, carrying 244 passengers, screamed the emergency code 7700 as it flew over France.
Passenger Brian Marcel, 78, from London, was en route to Tenerife for a three-day golfing holiday.
He said his plans fell apart after the flight was turned around. Since landing, EasyJet staff have warned passengers they could be removed from future flights if they misbehaved.
Speaking from the plane, which was stranded on the tarmac for an hour, Brian told MailOnline: ‘I only went for three days. There’s one day away.
‘The plane is full of young twenty-somethings – 244 of us. I could be the grandfather of everyone on board!
‘You’re supposed to sit with your seat belt on, but young people have no idea what discipline is. They stand.’
Were YOU on board? Send an email to chris.matthews@mailonline.co.uk
‘We had been on the road for an hour and a half when they told us they had lost a hydraulic system.
“The police are coming to pick us up here. We had to be towed because there were no hydraulics.”
Speaking to MailOnline, one of EasyJet’s flight attendants told passengers they would be transferred to another flight at 1.30pm, which was met with cheers of joy.
However, he warned passengers that children who misbehaved before then would be removed from the plane.
The flight attendant said: ‘If you behave inappropriately, you will not be allowed to travel on our plane.’
Brian, who heads IBCS Group’s barcode business in Eastern Europe, says there was “no panic” when the plane turned around and no one said the word “emergency”.
He added: ‘I was concerned about whether the flaps would work because it’s a hydraulic system, but they were fine.’
According to Flight Emergency, the Airbus A321neo commercial aircraft Brian was flying in experienced a hydraulic failure around 8:40 a.m.
The plane descended from its cruising altitude, turned around and flew back to Gatwick.
The aircraft was put in a holding position at 6,000 feet to burn off fuel before landing. This can sometimes be necessary to shed weight or for maintenance reasons.
Waitrose account manager Annie Passingham, 32, from Bracknell, went on holiday with her colleague Emily, also 32.
Annie said a group of men who had bought vodka in the duty free shop caused problems with EasyJet staff after the plane turned around.
She told MailOnline: ‘The biggest problem was a group of guests who had bought a load of vodka from the duty-free shop.
‘They were drinking, standing up and wanting to go to the toilet when we went to land.
“They were verbally aggressive.”
She said they calmed down when police boarded the plane, but were still banned from the next flight and will have to buy a ticket with another airline if they want to go to Tenerife.
Annie said the emergency was causing fear among some children and panic among a man who was due to get married in Tenerife tomorrow.
Ultimately, she said, the landing went well, although it was “a little wobbly.” When they were finally allowed to disembark, she said officers “let everyone out one row at a time.”
A Gatwick Airport spokeswoman said: “The aircraft landed safely and there are no operational implications for the airport.”
An EasyJet spokesman said: ‘We can confirm that the captain of flight EZY8033 from London Gatwick to Tenerife took the precautionary decision to return to Gatwick due to a technical issue.
‘The captain performed a routine landing according to standard procedures and the passengers disembarked normally.
‘We are in the process of arranging an alternative aircraft for the flight to Tenerife and would like to thank our customers for their patience and apologise for any inconvenience caused by the delay.
‘The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is our highest priority and easyJet operates its aircraft strictly in accordance with the manufacturer’s guidelines.’