PUBLISHED ONApril 22, 2026 9:15 AMBYSean LerA Kuala Lumpur-bound AirAsia flight from Chongqing, China, was delayed for more than an hour on Wednesday (April 22) after a female passenger became uncooperative and rowdy when cabin crew on board spoke to her in English.
Checks by AsiaOne indicate that the incident happened on board AirAsia flight D7809, which was scheduled to depart at 2am.
Videos posted on social media show the woman complaining to a female AirAsia ground crew member who was on board that a cabin crew had spoken to her in English.
"Shouldn't a cabin crew on board an international flight be able to speak in Mandarin? If he can't even speak basic Mandarin, he doesn't deserve to be in the service industry," the woman said.
She became increasingly agitated, raising her voice as she explained her unhappiness to the ground crew member who knelt down throughout while listening to the woman.
As airport police officers came onboard, the woman exclaimed that she was prepared to take another flight.
But soon she changed tune: "Can anyone tell me what I've done wrong? Who will compensate me for the time and money lost? Who will resolve my concerns? If you don't compensate me, then let this flight not take off.
"Let me be very clear, I am from China."
Social media users were mostly up in arms against her behaviour.
Threads user Sanmah, whose comment received over 1,000 likes, said: "It's an international flight. Of course they'd speak to passengers in English. If you were a cabin crew as you've claimed, surely you know that the use of electronic devices is forbidden during take off and landing? You should have been fired."
Several social media users were also impressed with the female ground crew member's patience.
The cabin crew member, Syafiq Jisma, who was abused during the incident posted a statement on Instagram to say what had happened.
According to Syafiq, the passenger became loud and visibly angry after her friend was unable to pass through immigration.
"I approached her and politely asked her to lower her voice, but she did not understand English. Another passenger nearby helped translate," he said, adding that she became more upset and directed her anger at the passenger who assisted him.
"To prevent the situation from escalating, I had to step in between them. As I do not speak Mandarin, I requested assistance from my purser, who does," Syafiq said.
However, the woman challenged the purser and told him to go ahead and offload her. The captain was then informed, and he made a decision to return to the bay.
Syafiq also reposted five video reels shared by a passenger on Instagram stories. The videos appear to corroborate with the statement.
@asiaone The Chinese woman, who was earlier advised not to use her phone during take off, was removed from AirAsia X Flight D7809 by officers from Chongqing Police after the plane returned to the aircraft bay. Passengers were delayed by 1 hour 22 minutes, but the plane eventually landed safely at Kuala Lumpur International Airport at about 8.22am on Wednesday (April 22). #news #China #Malaysia #Airline #AirAsia ♬ original sound - AsiaOne
In response to AsiaOne's queries, AirAsia X's general manager Benyamin Ismail confirmed that an altercation involving a passenger occurred onboard the flight.
He said the aircraft returned to the bay after the guest failed to comply with the crew's instructions. Local authorities were notified and met with the aircraft upon its return to the bay to ensure that appropriate action could be taken.
"The local authorities handled the situation promptly and decided to offload the guest for safety reasons," Benyamin added.
According to the airline, the flight, which was delayed by about 1.5 hours, has since arrived safely at Kuala Lumpur.
"We commend our crew onboard for their professionalism in managing the situation in line with established procedures and also the local authorities for a swift response to ensure the safety of all our guests," Benyamin added.
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