A male passenger on a HK Express flight from Kaohsiung to Hong Kong that was diverted to Shenzhen due to the black rainstorm on Thursday became disruptive, demanding to get off and threatening to contact the Mainland Affairs Council and the Taiwan Affairs Office, according to online footage.
Flight UO131, originally scheduled to land in Hong Kong at 11.45am, was diverted to Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport as the Observatory issued two black rainstorm warnings. The flight eventually departed Shenzhen at 5.35pm and arrived in Hong Kong at 6.22pm.
In videos circulating online, the man is seen yelling at cabin crew: "I'm not an engineer, I'm just your consumer. Do you understand me? If you still don't get it, I'll call the Mainland Affairs Council and the Taiwan Affairs Office to come and handle this. Do you understand me?"
He also said: "I'm telling you straight, your problems have nothing to do with me. I just want to get off, do you understand? I only want one thing right now — I want to get off this plane."
Other passengers were heard trying to calm him down, saying the diversion was due to bad weather and asking him to let crew handle the situation first. According to online posts, the man later lay down in the aisle and was carried off the plane.
A passenger on the same flight said the journey from Kaohsiung felt like "riding a roller coaster" before the plane was diverted due to poor weather in Hong Kong. Several passengers felt scared and wanted to disembark, but crew refused.
HK Express said several passengers felt unwell after the diversion and were allowed to get off for medical attention after authorities were notified. Another flight from Okinawa to Hong Kong was also diverted to Macau. Both flights later resumed their journeys.
The airline said passenger and crew safety is its top priority and apologised for any inconvenience caused.
