MANILA, Philippines - A Cebu Pacific flight to Pagadian City was forced to return to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 after actress Melissa Mendez created a scene.
In a statement from the Cebu Pacific (CEB), Flight 5J771 left NAIA at 9:20 a.m. and came back at around 10:37 a.m. after the pilot decided to offload Mendez for reportedly being unruly.
Mendez reportedly occupied a seat that belonged to a companion of Volcano football player Andrew Wolff and was asked by the flight attendant to go to her assigned seat.
Mendez obeyed but reportedly started cursing at Wolff’s companion.
Attendants warned her to stop verbally abusing the passenger but Mendez reportedly hit one of them, prompting the attendants to inform the pilot of her unruly behavior.
Mendez was offloaded from the flight and told that she could no longer join the flight because she harmed an attendant.
But Mendez, in an interview on GMA News, said she just asked the passenger if she could take a photo of the sky by the window.
She said the passenger screamed at her and told her to stay away from him because she “has bad breath.”
She said she would consult her lawyer and seek the help of women’s group Gabriela about the incident.