A UK man attempted to avoid excess luggage fees while traveling from Iceland to England by wearing all the clothes he packed on the plane. His plan unfortunately didn’t work and he was held and arrested at Iceland Keflavik Airport. According to the passenger however, he couldn’t afford the excess baggage fees after being left homeless.
To everyone reporting on my airport experience in Iceland.
PLEASE STOP SAYING I was EVADING excess baggage fees….I couldn't AFFORD the fee (£90) as a result of being left homeless in Iceland for over a week.
Paints a VERY different picture.
Thankful that anyone cares tho.
— Ryan Hawaii (@RYAN_HAWAII) January 16, 2018
Ryan Carney Williams was denied a boarding pass after wearing eight pairs of pants and ten shirts. The act has not been declared illegal but it was not allowed, apparently. Williams was declined entry to his plane twice. The English tourist was allegedly prohibited for having been rowdy and essentially wearing his baggage.
Amid the incident, Williams revealed British Airways’ suspected motive, or what he thought it to be. “Hi being held at Iceland Keflavik airport because I had no baggage put all clothes on and they still won’t let me on. Racial profiling? Or…..” he tweeted. Williams said that he wore dreads, “flashy clothing” and nail polish and that this incited the prejudice.
Williams posted the tweet in tandem with a video of airline staff actively denying him access, one of which threatened police intervention when he asked why he couldn’t. And eventually, police were involved.
https://twitter.com/RYAN_HAWAII/status/951088642881138688
Williams alleged he was sprayed with mace and pinned to the ground after he refused to leave on the grounds that he’d done nothing wrong. He continued to suggest that he’d been polite for the entirety of the exchange, Mbl. reports.
Police escorted Williams to their station at which he filed a report. After the fact, he returned to the airport with money borrowed from his mother. But the difficulty continued.
Williams had a flight booked with EasyJet, a Norwegian airline, the next day. He was able to check in but wasn’t permitted aboard because of the captain’s wariness of his behavior from the day prior, leaving him stuck in Iceland with no money once again.
“And AGAIN! Refused from 2 flights in 2 days for no valid reason 🙂 @easyJet @British_Airways thanks guys wonderful service,” he tweeted.
And AGAIN! Refused from 2 flights in 2 days for no valid reason 🙂 @easyJet @British_Airways thanks guys wonderful service pic.twitter.com/Ivoc0WZvXl
— Ryan Hawaii (@RYAN_HAWAII) January 11, 2018
The UK resident was eventually able to board a flight with a Norwegian airline, though he was without his luggage as it had traveled to England without him.
Williams continues to hold that the incident was the result of racial profiling.