Phuket Air “to sue passengers who caused panic"

Passengers who refused to board an aircraft they thought had a fuel leak could face legal action from the carrier, which says they caused “panic and affray”. As reported by News From Abroad, passengers reportedly screamed and refused to sit in their seats after they claimed they saw fuel pouring from a wing as the Phuket Air jumbo jet moved along the runway at Sharjah Airport, United Arab Emirates. The take-off was aborted three times, and some 30 of the passengers ended up flying back to the UK on another carrier. But now the carrier is threatening legal action. The BBC News website quotes Gordon MacFarland, UK sales and marketing manager, as saying that some of things said by passengers were “crazy”, adding that one passenger jumped up and shouted “fire”. He reportedly said: “Are passengers really qualified to know what it going on? There was no danger to passengers.” Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad Ltd