BBC presenter hits out at ‘angry’ pilot who kicked her whole family off flight for making simple request

A BBC news presenter says she was ‘kicked off’ a plane along with her family after the captain got ‘angry’ at their request to all passengers.

Georgie Palmer, who is known for presenting the weather forecast on BBC News, was travelling on a SunExpress flight from London Gatwick to Dalaman, Turkey on Tuesday 21 May.

The presenter was with her husband Nick Sollom, 48, and daughters Annie, 14 and Rosie, 12.

When onboard the plane, the parents asked the crew to make an announcement for other passengers to avoid eating peanuts onboard the plane, as their daughter Rosie has an anaphylactic allergy to peanuts.

As it is a volatile allergen, Rosie wouldn’t need to come in contact with a peanut – however, the presence of the food onboard is enough to potentially be fatal.

In an Instagram post, Palmer claimed that staff had ‘refused to make the standard announcement on behalf of our daughter’, adding they had ‘updated’ their allergy policies.

So the BBC reporter then ‘gently’ asked passengers around her to avoid consuming any peanuts and to pass the message on, which she says they did happily.

But this allegedly didn’t sit well with the captain.

Palmer claimed that their actions enraged the captain, who said that they had to leave before the flight took off.

As per The Daily Mail, she said: “How we were treated was disgusting. The captain decided because of my daughter’s allergy he didn’t want to fly with her on board.

“When he found out I had spoken to the other passengers he was screaming at me from the cockpit. He was so angry, the next thing I knew we were told to get off the plane.”

Palmer claims her actions enraged the captain (Getty Stock Photo)

‘It is really beautiful how every passenger on that plane was so wonderful but nobody working on that plane showed one ounce of compassion.”

The following day, the family took an EasyJet flight to the holiday resort in Turkey, and claimed that crew made several announcements asking passengers not to open packets of peanuts on the flight.

But changing flights and therefore dates of stay in the hotel had cost the family another £5,000.

Palmer also said that her daughter Rosie was ‘in a terrible state’ over the incident, saying to The Daily Mail that it ‘ruined her holiday’, as the family don’t go for many overseas holidays in the year.

“If we had known that policy we would never have booked with them but we have been through the website with a fine-tooth comb and there is nothing.” she claimed.

“There was no way to tell the airline beforehand so how many people with peanut allergies will fly on SunExpress this summer not knowing the policy.”

Since then, a spokesman for SunExpress has made a statement regarding the situation: “We take the safety of our passengers very seriously. Shortly after boarding our flight from London Gatwick, the passenger raised a concern about one of his family group having a serious peanut allergy and requested an announcement to other passengers.

Palmer and her family spent £5000 for an additonal flight and hotel, among other costs. (BBC)

“We refrain from making these kinds of announcements as, like many other airlines, we cannot guarantee an allergen-free environment on our flights, nor prevent other passengers from bringing food items containing allergens on board,

“Due to the insistent behaviour of the passenger to others on board that they should not consume nuts, the captain decided it would be safest if the family did not travel on our flight.

“When this was explained to the passenger, he did exhibit aggressive behaviour towards our crew members, and tried to gain access to the cockpit.

“To ensure the safety of our crew and our passengers on board, we cannot tolerate aggressive and unruly behaviour on our flights.”

The airline stated that the father was acting aggressively towards cabin crew. (Agron Beqiri/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

They also said that their website states passengers must inform them of special requests 48 hours in advance of any given flight.

“No such notification was received from the passengers in this instance,” the spokesman said.

The company also said that they understood the situation had been ‘upsetting’ for Palmer and her family and will be conducting a review of events to ‘ensure more effective solutions’ for passengers that have allergies.

However, Palmer says the claims of aggression were ‘absolute nonsense’, telling the BBC: “It’s simply not true. There was no aggressive behaviour from us.”

LADbible has contacted SunExpress for further comment.

Featured Image Credit: GMB/Getty Stock Image

Topics: Travel, Parenting, Health, Holiday, UK News