During the incident, David Mesher, a 70-year-old white man from Birmingham, racially abused Delsie Gayle, a 77-year-old black woman from East London, who was seated next to him.
Barcelona City Council announced that it had instructed its public prosecutor to determine whether his actions constituted a hate crime under Spanish law.
A week after the incident, Mesher publicly apologised to Gayle on the ITV Breakfast television show Good Morning Britain and rejected the idea that he was racist.
"[3] At the time living in East London,[6] Delsie Gayle was seventy-seven years old and was a retired care assistant;[7] she had moved to Britain from Jamaica during the 1960s as part of the "Windrush generation".
[9] The incident took place on 19 October 2018 on the Ryanair flight FR9015 from Barcelona to London Stansted; it occurred before take-off, while the plane was still on Spanish territory.
"[12] A flight attendant appeared and asked Gayle if she would like to move; she responded that she wanted to remain close to her daughter.
After she spoke to him in English with a Jamaican accent, Mesher said: "Don't talk to me in a fucking foreign language you stupid ugly cow.
"[12] "The underlying reason behind the man's abusive behaviour comes down to the fact that my mum is a black woman and he didn’t want her sitting next to him - he says it in the video."
[9] Gayle's daughter subsequently related that the cabin crew denied hearing Mesher use racial slurs and told her to call Ryanair customer services on 22 October.
He explained that "for many years a lot of the West Indian community have gone through these types of incidents in Britain, but have never been able to share it with the public or the world.
In his view, it was important that the public be made aware "that these incidents take place" and that this was something that could now be achieved through "the power of social media".
[13] Karl Turner, the Member of Parliament for Kingston upon Hull East, tweeted that Mesher "should have been removed from the flight and handed over to the police".
"[13] Stuart McMillan, the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Greenock and Inverclyde, tweeted to state that "This is really appalling Ryanair.
"[12] Margaret Ferrier, the Member of Parliament for Rutherglen and Hamilton West, tweeted that the footage was "utterly disgusting" and that the flight attendant was "incapable of responding appropriately" to the "racist male passenger".
Ferrier later tweeted that Ryanair's CEO Michael O'Leary should personally call Gayle to "apologise profusely for the incompetence of his flight attendant in handling this racial abuse incident properly.
"[12] The MP Dawn Butler wrote a letter to Ryanair, accusing them of "empowering a racist" by failing to act against Mesher at the time of the incident.
[15] Gayle's local MP, John Cryer, stated he would raise the issue through an early day motion in the House of Commons.
[7] Reporter Jeremy Vine tweeted his criticism of Ryanair, stating that "they need to explain how this man's disgusting racial abuse of the black lady in the seat next to him ends up with HER being asked to move.
Writing in The Independent, Helen Coffey noted that the incident raised questions regarding "the rules of jurisdiction" when it comes to aviation, highlighting that it was often a "grey area".
[18] Writing for HuffPost, Nadine White and Lucy Pasha-Robinson noted that for many black British people, the footage about the incident was "shocking, but not surprising."
He praised Lawrence for filming the incident and thus ensuring that it "became a cause celebre" but criticised other passengers on the plane who "sat by – keener to get home perhaps than to stand up for an elderly woman being racially abused".
[2] She praised the man responsible for filming the incident, stating that by doing so he had "brought to public attention an event that can't go unpunished".
[5] A spokesperson for Spain's Civil Guard stated that the issue was a matter for the British police because the plane had been bound for the UK.
She also expressed the view that aboard the plane, "nothing was done and I know if that was a black person racially abusing an elderly woman the police would have been called.
"[16] On 26 October, Mesher appeared on the ITV Breakfast television show Good Morning Britain, where he stated that he "absolutely" regretted his behaviour in the incident.
"[17] The company added: "We again extend our very sincere apologies to this passenger for the regrettable, and unacceptable remarks that were made to her by an adjacent passenger, and we believe that by reporting this matter immediately to the Essex Police and by apologising in writing to this customer early on Sunday morning, Ryanair treated it with the urgency and seriousness it warranted.
"[7] It stipulated that the staff aboard the flight had been aware of the argument when it happened but only learned that Mesher had used racist language when they were shown footage of the incident once landed at London Stansted.