'It was mental': Brits' Ryanair flight turns into 12-hour nightmare with 'drunk' wrestled by air hostess, passengers screaming at captain in 'mutiny', two diversions and police intervention

By IMOGEN GARFINKEL - SENIOR FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER Published: 13:48, 13 July 2026 | Updated: 13:53, 13 July 2026 A Ryanair flight from London Stansted to Tirana scheduled to take only three hours turned into a 12-hour nightmare after two diversions and police intervention. A source told the Daily Mail about how screaming travellers staged a 'mutiny' against the captain, demanding to be taken off the flight, and described how a heavily intoxicated passenger was 'wrestled' back to his seat by an air hostess. The 4pm flight on June 3 had already gotten off to a rocky start, with several Brits visibly drunk at take-off as they prepared for festival season in Albania. The Ryanair plane was packed with rowdy stag do groups and young people clutching vodka bottles from Duty Free, as they eagerly anticipated their summer getaway in the Balkan Peninsula. But the tourists ended up having the flight from hell amid a terrifying thunderstorm raging throughout the night, leading to two lengthy diversions.  Flight RK8288 was diverted twice - to Italy and then Greece - before finally touching down in the Albanian capital at 5am local time, around nine hours after its scheduled arrival slot.  According to the source who spoke anonymously to the Daily Mail, food supplies and water ran out, distressed tourists staged a 'mutiny', and Greek police were even called on board to ease the chaotic situation. 'He's a coward, the pilot needs to come out and face us like a man!' shouted a group of enraged men towards the cockpit, as their summer dreams swiftly transformed into a nightmare.  The plane was packed with rowdy stag do groups and young people clutching vodka bottles from Duty Free, as they eagerly anticipated their summer getaway in the Balkan Peninsula A source told the Daily Mail about how screaming travellers staged a 'mutiny' against the captain, demanding to be taken off the flight, and described how a heavily intoxicated passenger was 'wrestled' back to his seat by an air hostess  A dozen disgruntled tourists even demanded to leave the aircraft in Greece, following hours of confusion and disappointment midair leading to blind rage. One man threw up on himself seconds before the aircraft was due to take off again and ran to the toilet - returning moments later, shirtless, to a chorus of cheers and boos.  'We were so dead, so exhausted,' the anonymous passenger said, describing the relief at having finally landed in Tirana, albeit delayed by several hours. Throughout the flight, he only managed to eat one tub of Pringles with his friend, adding: 'I think that was basically the only thing that was available.' Approximately four hours after take-off from London, the travellers thought the aircraft was about to land in Tirana, when in fact it was approaching an airport in Brindisi, Italy. 'About ten minutes before landing, the pilot said: "By the way, we couldn't land in Albania, we're now in Brindisi in Italy." 'We were like: "Oh, that's not where we wanted to go." 'We stayed there for two, maybe three hours on the tarmac. People were getting pretty upset and annoyed.' At that point, the passenger claimed the Ryanair crew refused to keep selling food and drink. 'They didn't give anything out for free, and you couldn't even buy anything. People were understandably thirsty and hungry. We'd already been on the flight for four hours at this point, maybe longer. You couldn't access anything,' he said. To satisfy their hunger, the travellers were forced to rely on the kindness of strangers and ration snacks between them.  The crew eventually relented and allowed the passengers to purchase refreshments - making guests pay for water - but quickly, all the supplies ran out, bar a few packs of crisps, he claimed. Ribena was offered to guests to purchase when the water was no longer available, but soon that ran out too. One restless passenger, described as 'clearly hammered', refused to listen to instructions and began to walk around the plane, leading to an air hostess having to 'wrestle him back to his seat'. 'She literally grabs him, picks him up like a child, and pushes him back down to his seat... it was mental.' Soon, the pilot announced that the plane was ready to take-off again, this time to Tirana, but the journey was far from over, with more roadblocks ahead. 'We're on the way to Albania, and then, again, ten minutes before landing, the pilot says: "We're not going to Albania, we're actually about to land in Thessaloniki in Greece."' At this point, 'everyone is losing their mind', the passenger said.  By the time the plane arrived in Thessaloniki, that's when the 'mutiny' began. 'People are shouting into the pilot deck, calling him a coward, and telling him to get out and face them like a man,' the passenger said. About a dozen guests then announced they were getting off the aircraft, telling the captain: 'There's no way you can keep us here.' Greek police were called onto the plane, and apparently told the crew to let the disgruntled tourists leave the jet. Eventually, the plane managed to land in Tirana at around 5am local time, and the pilot said: 'Welcome to Albania.' Everyone in the aircraft cheered, grateful they had finally arrived at their destination in one piece. The passenger said he hasn't been successful in claiming back any money following the journey, which took nine hours longer than planned.  'It was an automatic rejection as soon as I put my flight number in. I got an automated email being like: "Your claim's been rejected."' He has chosen to escalate his dispute with AviationADR in the hopes of receiving some compensation.  In a letter sent to the passenger, seen by the Daily Mail, Ryanair said the flight was 'disrupted due to unexpected and extraordinary circumstances, which were beyond our control'.  A Ryanair spokesperson said: 'This flight from London Stansted to Tirana was diverted to Brindisi due to adverse weather conditions at Tirana Airport, however subsequently diverted to Thessaloniki Airport due to a thunderstorm. 'After 45 minutes, crew opened the bars on board so that passengers could access snacks and refreshments. 'Passengers booked on this flight received communications via email, SMS and PUSH notifications. 'Once weather conditions improved, this flight departed for Tirana at 4.44am local time.'