- EasyJet flight from Lanzarote to Liverpool was delayed nearly two hours
- The pilot instructs up to 20 passengers to leave due to the aircraft exceeding the weight limit
- Each volunteer was offered a €500 incentive
EasyJet pilot was compelled to instruct passengers to disembark from the aircraft after realizing that it exceeded the safe weight limit for takeoff.
The incident occurred on a flight scheduled to depart from Lanzarote’s Arrecife Airport to John Lennon Airport in Liverpool at 9:45 pm on Wednesday, July 5.
The departure was significantly delayed, lasting nearly two hours, due to a combination of the aircraft’s excessive weight and unfavorable weather conditions.
In response to the weight issue, the pilot found it necessary to request up to 20 volunteers among the passengers to leave the flight.
As an incentive, each passenger who agreed to deplane was offered €500 (£427). A fellow passenger managed to capture the pilot’s announcement on video, subsequently sharing it with the Echo.
In the footage, the pilot can be heard saying: “Thank you for getting here today. Because there are so many of you it’s a pretty heavy aircraft.
“That heavy aircraft combined with a pretty short runway and with the current unfavorable conditions here in Lanzarote, means the aircraft is too heavy to take off. I’ve been sat with my senior first officer and we’re very experienced with this and have done this before.
