WHEN Elin Ersson thought a fellow passenger was “going to die”, she decided to take extraordinary measures to try to help him. Now, she could faces jail time.
The 21-year-old Swedish student live streamed footage of her incredible act on Facebook, which has attracted over three million views so far.
Ms Ersson bought a plane ticket between Gothenburg, Sweden, and Istanbul, Turkey, on Monday morning after discovering that a man was scheduled to be deported to Afghanistan on the flight.
The woman then refused to sit down until the 52-year-old Afghan man was removed from the Turkish Airlines plane, knowing the pilots couldn’t take off with her standing.
During the teary 14-minute long live stream, the woman faced intense resistance from the crew.
She says: “The people here working are trying to take my phone away from me … a person is going to be deported to Afghanistan where there’s war and he’s going to get killed.”
The strong-willed passenger continues: “They pushed me and tried to forcibly move me … I’m not going to sit down until this person is off the plane. Because he will most likely get killed.
“ … I’m doing what I can to save a person’s life.”
While some fellow passengers were visibly frustrated with the delay, others applauded her move.
At one point an angry passenger tried to seize her phone and she told him: “What is more important, a life, or your time?”
Other fed-up flyers were told: “I’m very worried that a man is going to die and you’re more worried about missing your flight”.
Elin also records her interactions with crew members, who mostly ask her to sit down and comply.
To that she says: “He is going to die.”
The crew member asks her how she knows that.
“Because it’s Afghanistan.”
Silence.
Eventually, the man was removed from the plane amid cheering. However, authorities say he will be deported at a later date, and Elin could face fines or up to six months in jail for disobeying police orders.
News.com.au has contacted Turkish Airlines for comment.
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