Tommy Tiernan has revealed he recently bore witness to a “terrifying” plane ordeal on a flight home from the US.
The comedian opened up about the plane drama on a recent episode of The Tommy, Hector and Laurita podcast.
The 54-year-old recently kicked off his American West Coast tour in Seattle last month.
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Speaking on the podcast, Tommy revealed that a passenger on his flight home attempted to open the exit door.
“I’d the seat reclined for about four and half hours out of a nine-hour journey.”
“Four and half hours into the flight and I look over and your man has the map up,” he said.
“We’re looking at the map and we’re halfway across Canada. We’re about to fly across the Great Lakes.”
“I’m laying back in the seat anyway and I must be half an hour/40 minutes half-asleep. I wake up again and I have a look over the map and now the plane is facing back the way we were coming.”
“I’m thinking maybe there’s something wrong with your man’s map.”
The comic explained that the plane had to re-route to Winnipeg as a man began “roaring and shouting” and demanding to be let off the flight.
Tommy continued: “This gossin, God be good to him, and I don’t know where he is now or what happened to him at the time, I would suspect he had either taken a drug a couple of days beforehand and was now in the horrors and wanted to get off the plane or he had taken something getting onto the plane thinking it would be great craic.”
“You know the edibles are everywhere in California.”
“So, roaring and shouting (from economy). Next thing, there are no air stewards in business class. Everyone seems to have disappeared. It’s a bit strange but it quietened down for a while.”
“So we’re thinking… because people die on airplanes and I hadn’t connected the two at this stage. One of the stewards came up and said there is a young fella going ballistic in the back and he lost the plot.”
“He was sitting down and he was crying and roaring and shouting. He went to open the exit door,” he added.
Tommy went on to say that his sound man, Darren, pinned the man back from opening the safety door.
“He was crying saying ‘I want my mammy and I’m not a terrorist’. Then all belligerent again trying to open the door.”
“He had to pay for, the plane had to be refuelled in Winnipeg. The airline had to pay ground fees, etc. He’s liable for all that.”
“He’s probably banned from the airline.”
The delay added another seven hours onto the already 10-hour flight.
