A Ryanair passenger who shocked fellow travellers when he forced his way out of the plane's emergency exit was suffering from having an asthma attack and needed air, a fellow passenger has claimed.
The man, reportedly a 57-year-old Polish national called Victor, ended up perching on the wing of flight FR8164 as it sat on the tarmac at Malaga airport having landed an hour late from London.
Passengers were then reportedly left waiting another 30 minutes to disembark when they arrived at around 11pm with no information as to why they were delayed.
He allegedly became frustrated when the plane was delayed by almost an hour leaving Stansted Airport on New Year's Day.
The Polish man, who lives in Malaga, remembered his hand luggage, but was eventually talked into getting back on board by anxious ground staff worried he was going to jump and held until he was arrested by local police.
But Raj Mistry, who was sitting next to the man on the plane, told Mail Online the man decided to take drastic action because he desperately needed air – but security wouldn't listen to him.
He said he'd witnessed the man - whose wife was waiting for him at the airport - using his inhaler a number of times on the flight.
"It seems nobody noticed that the man who decided to exit the plane was suffering from asthma," Mistry said.
"He needed air, hence he decided to exit the plane but Civil Guards didn't want to listen to what he had to say."
He added: "I was talking to him throughout the flight and there was a few times he was using his inhaler. He also took medication just before the flight took off.
"When he used his inhaler the second time, I asked him if he is OK, he replied he's OK, he hates flying and struggles to breathe.
"He chuckled at one point saying, 'If I don't take [the inhaler] with me, I'll be in heaven sooner than you know it."
Mistry added: "I feel for the man.
"He told me he suffers from asthma. He got up all of a sudden and decided to leave. I don't blame him."'
Mistry added: "If a plane is at a standstill for over 30 minutes and you have no freedom and a health condition, you are bound to do something."
He said the man doesn't deserve the backlash he's received online, adding: "If only they knew about his condition, they'd probably understand. I really hope they don't fine him."
A spokesman for Ryanair said: "This airport security breach occurred after landing in Malaga airport on January 1.
"Malaga airport police immediately arrested the passenger in question and since this was a breach of Spanish safety and security regulations, it is being dealt with by the Spanish authorities."
Another passenger, Fernando Del Valle Villalobos, said: "This man decided he wasn't going to wait any longer.
"He activated the emergency door and left, saying, 'I'm going via the wing'. It was surreal."
Del Valle Villalobos, who filmed the man's rash exit, added: "He was sat on the wing for quite a while until the crew managed to get him back inside."
One of the passengers could be overheard saying "what a star, he's off" in Spanish as the man was filmed trying to jump down from the wing with a thick coat on and a travel bag beside him.
He appeared to be talking to ground staff trying to dissuade him from going any further.
Del Valle Villalobos added: 'I don't know why he did it. He must have just lost it and it was the first thing that came into his head."
The incident happened just after 11pm on Monday when Ryanair flight FR8164, which should have left London Stansted just before 7pm but left nearer 8pm, touched down in the Costa del Sol capital.
The Ryanair passenger who apparently got fed up waiting to get off stands on the wing of the plane at Malaga airport, Spain. Photo / AP
Civil Guard officers recorded the man's name and age so they could report him for an infraction against airport security.
He is expected to be hit with a hefty fine which will be at least four figures and possibly more.
It was not immediately clear if the infraction had been logged as serious which would land the Polish national with the heaviest level of fine.
One social media user, commenting on the footage, said: "Human stupidity of the highest level. Another one who should never be allowed back on a plane for the rest of his life."
A police source said: "We responded to a call from Ryanair staff on flight FR8164 from London saying a man had opened an emergency door and had walked out onto the wing.
