A fight allegedly erupted between passengers and China Eastern Airlines staff. Picture: YouTube
TAKE a group of stressed passengers, add a series of unexplained flight delays along with "unhelpful" airport employees, and you've got a recipe for disaster.
Journalist Matthew Sheehan has told Chinese blog Beijing Cream about the mayhem he witnessed at Beijing International Airport, resulting in furious passengers fighting with airport staff.
Watch footage of the incident below
Mr Sheehan claims he and fellow passengers had been waiting to board their China Eastern Airlines flight MU5177 but were hit with a series of long, unexplained delays and were bounced between several boarding gates.
Concerned the flight was still being displayed as leaving at 10.40pm despite it actually being 11.45pm, they approached the ticket counter to demand an explanation.
Only problem was, it was empty.
Two hours after their last contact with staff, the angry passengers again returned to the counter and told other staff members nearby to call the China Eastern employees to the counter.
The situation escalated when the China Eastern staff arrived and allegedly lied, insisting they had never left the desk and that the flight was always displayed as departing from the one gate.
The passengers, allegedly led by some very vocal middle-aged women, began shouting at the employee to turn around, as the monitor over her shoulder showed a different gate number. She refused, adding fuel to the fire.
Next, a manager stepped in and despite being calm, he was hit in the head by a newspaper thrown by a passenger. The manager also refused to acknowledge the different gate number being displayed, and a water bottle was then allegedly thrown at his face.
This prompted the manager to lunge at the crowd, and what happened next is seen on the video.
The furious manager was held back by other staff members, however he was strong and lifted a stool above his head but was again brought under control. He allegedly yelled insults at the passengers, and the water-thrower also cursed.
Eventually a more senior manager arrived and calmed the situation down, and the passengers boarded the plane five hours late.
China Eastern Airlines has been contacted for comment.
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