A former flight attendant has issued a stark warning to passengers about a seemingly innocuous activity

A former Virgin Atlantic flight attendant warned travellers about how a seemingly harmless action could ruin their holiday plans.

With 16 years under her belt at Virgin Atlantic, Skye Taylor unveiled some unexpected reasons why passengers may be booted off a plane before take-off. Aside from the obvious issues of intoxication and unruly conduct, she highlighted the danger of taking sleeping pills once on board, according to The Express.

Speaking on passenger removal scenarios, she stated: “Behaviour, mental issues or substance abuse, which is always a big one. They will take sleeping tablets and then can’t function, can’t even get in their seat, can’t even speak. Obviously, we don’t want to put up with these people for ten hours and something bad could happen to them as well.”

She observed that it’s worryingly common for flyers in Los Angeles to take sleeping pills right before the flight and then immediately ask for an alcoholic drink, dubbing this mix a “recipe for disaster”.

In addition, Skye pointed out other lesser-known factors leading to ejection, including not reporting medical conditions, cautioning that combining medication and alcohol, especially at cruising altitude, can drastically change a person’s behaviour. She recounted witnessing passengers experience total changes in personality while in the air.

A flight attendant reported: “I have had incidents where people have been so rude and so horrible and fall asleep eventually,” she said. “And they wake up and are like, ‘Oh my god, why was I behaving like that?’ There are not enough studies done on prescription medication in the air.”

The Cleveland Clinic claims that about one-third of individuals above 65 years old use some type of sleep aid.

Diazepam is a medication used to manage anxiety, seizures, muscle spasms, and sleep problems. However, the NHS warns against taking sedatives like Diazepam during flights, stating: “Whilst most people find Diazepam sedating, a small number have paradoxical agitation and aggression. They can also cause disinhibition and lead you to behave in a way that you would not normally which can pose a risk on the plane.”

The NHS cautions that this type of reaction can also occur with alcohol, leading passengers to be removed from flights. As a result, the NHS has stopped prescribing Diazepam for flight-related anxiety.