What if the 'exceptional circumstances' are caused by the airline?

PennyPincher114

We were due to leave Chania, Crete at 23.20 and by 9pm it was already showing 'delayed'. To cut a long story short we were told after midnight that the flight was delayed due to air traffic control issues until 5pm the next day. At nearly 2am we were told Easy Jet could not find us accommodation and we should find our own.

It was impossible to book a hotel with a check in and check out date on the same day. We eventually managed to find a youth hostel close by and shared a room with 4 strangers! 

On the flight the next day the captain told us that the reason for the delay was that on the plane (that was coming to collect us) from Bristol to Chania the night before, there were 2 passengers who were drunk so they had to offload them. One of the people 'went rogue' and Bristol Airport was closed for 15 minutes due to safety, resulting in planes being unable to take off or land and the plane lost its slot for several hours. The result was that the crew would not have had enough hours to do the trip back to the UK so our flight was delayed until 5pm the next day.

My question is, if these were Easy Jet passengers, already drunk before take off, it was Easy Jet's fault that they were on the plane and needed to be removed and so Easy Jet was the cause of the resulting air port closure? Or can they still claim 'exceptional circumstances' due to air traffic control issues?

[Deleted User]

I think you are unlikely to get very far if the passengers were drunk, because it's clearly their fault.

That said, it's worth putting a claim in because you have no idea if what you were told is true or not. See what they say in an official reply to your claim, and see if it stacks up.