Wizz Air passengers held on tarmac for nearly 90 minutes after crew accuse them of nicking phone

Yahoo

25-04-2025

A Wizz Air flight was held up for nearly an hour and a half today after staff wrongly accused passengers of stealing a security guard's phone. Police were called to Flight W95004 set to depart for Tirana, the capital of Albania, at 15.10 today (April 25). Crew members accused a passenger of stealing a security guard's mobile phone based on CCTV evidence.
After preventing take-off for 88 minutes, the situation was resolved after cabin staff admitting there was, in fact, 'no item' found on board.
As the aircraft was preparing for departure, a cabin crew member announced: "We know the phone is on board, now we should leave in two minutes – we cannot because of this, this is a security issue."
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They added, "We cannot have an item that does not belong to anyone on this flight. We cannot depart knowing that there's something that does not belong to this flight."
In an exasperating turn of events, a 28-year-old passenger recalled how crew members dialled the missing phone and purportedly heard the plane's announcements through the call, implying the thief was among those on board.
The frustrated traveller said: "You'd think airports would be more secure and this would be resolved much more swiftly."
"You're not even safe at Luton airport, somewhere you think is a safe space."
Nearly an hour after the initial announcement, a different crew member announced that staff were looking at CCTV footage to find the culprit.
He stated: "We still want to give the chance for this potential person who made the mistake to bring it before they will find it in the video.
"Once again, please voluntarily come to the front or to my colleagues at the back."
With the phone still missing, police intervention escalated the situation as they boarded the aircraft while irate travellers were stranded at Luton.
Following more than an hour's delay, cabin crew then revealed to the incensed passengers that the missing item was actually "no item" on the aircraft.
They explained: "There's no item on this plane, we're happy now with our security position to go.
"I appreciate your understanding for this situation. It is for us as well quite a new one, we're doing our best and we will be on our way to Tirana very soon."
Wizz Air and Bedfordshire Police have been approached for a statement.