Passengers on James Corden's BA flight feared plane was going to crash: Travellers say they were told to adopt 'brace' position before plane's emergency landing in Lisbon - and say star posed for selfies before his row with airport staff

Fellow passengers of James Corden's flight from the Algarve to London have told how they feared the plane was going to crash as they were told to 'adopt' the brace position before the aircraft's emergency landing. 

Corden, 45, vented his frustration at a member of staff on Sunday during a turbulent trip which saw the plane stop in Lisbon and passengers allegedly placed in immigration queues. 

Fellow travellers told how Corden posed for selfies with them and joked about revealing the ending of Gavin and Stacey's Christmas special as they feared for their lives. 

Vanessa, a passenger who was on the flight with her mother and husband, said: 'It was something along the lines of, ''Gather your possessions as best you can, take off your shoes, and when you're told to by the airplane staff, please adopt the brace position and when we land if you're able, please find your nearest emergency exit and vacate the plane''.

'Basically, what had happened was the flaps on the airplane wing which are supposed to go down when you are in the air won't go down, which meant that they wouldn't be able to raise them on landing.' 

Passengers were eventually told they would no longer have to assume the brace position, but spent three hours on the tarmac in Lisbon before the plane was finally taken out of service. 

Vanessa confirmed the comedian confronted a staff member after passengers vacated the plane in Lisbon, but only because they were shepherded into the wrong queue. 

'So then BA finally let us off the plane,' Vanessa told Metro. 'We're in the terminal and there was not a member of BA staff to be found. And they put us in immigration queues. And there was just no one there telling us what was going on.

'The people he's speaking to in that picture are the flight staff on our plane. I watched him fist bump the pilot as he got off the plane, he said, ''Thank you very much.'' 

According to Vanessa, the presenter was vexed because passengers had been directed towards the wrong queue,  among them families with young children. 

She said: 'James was a club flyer and he stood there, and was like ''What about all these people who've got all these kids with them?'' like saying that's not acceptable. It's not right.' 

And Vanessa claims Corden - who once fell out with a New York restauranteur over his alleged treatment of waiting staff - kept passengers entertained by posing for selfies as they made their way back to the UK.  

'He walked up and down the aisles talking to people, and let everybody take a selfie with him,' she said.

'I made a joke and went, 'Oh if we're all going to die. You could tell us how does the Gavin & Stacey Christmas special end?' and he went 'Do you really want to know?' and I went 'Yeah.' He went, 'I can't tell you.' 

'Then he said, 'but do you want to know what happened on the fishing trip?' and I was like 'Yes! I do!' and he was like, 'I can't tell you that either.'' 

It's understood that the plane struggled to gain altitude as soon as it left the Algarve and circled for 45 minutes, never reaching altitude before announcing an emergency landing. 

Passengers were eventually given a flight to London at 9:30 the following morning and Corden was 'stood in the same queue as everybody else, doing the same things as everybody else did.' 

Corden has previously fallen foul of various public figures, among them Spice Girl Mel B - who branded him 'the biggest d***head' she's met. 

Naming her least favourite celebrities on a 2022 episode of The Big Narstie Show, she said: 'So, there's a few. James Corden, Geri Halliwell, Jessie J and me!'

Ricky Gervais has also been critical of Corden after the presenter used one of his 2018 stand-up jokes during a late Late Show monologue. 

Gervais tweeted a clip from Corden's show in which the host jokes about Twitter users getting angry about a poster in a town square about guitar lessons.

But Corden's joke is directly repeating Gervais' gag from his 2018 Netflix stand-up comedy gig Ricky Gervais: Humanity.

Gervais, retweeting a clip of Corden repeating his joke, said in a since deleted tweet: 'The bit about the town square advert for guitar lessons is brilliant.'

The comedian said he deleted the original tweet because he 'felt sorry for Corden'.

In 2022 Corden was branded a 'tiny cretin of a man' and banned by the furious owner of iconic New York Balthazar restaurant – who claimed was the 'most abusive customer ever.'

Fiery restaurateur Keith McNally banned the former Late Late Show host from his restaurants because of his treatment of staff.

Corden later made a public apology - but denied the restaurant's version of events, insisting he did not 'yell like crazy' and claiming for the first time that the reason he was so upset is that his wife was given food she has 'seriously allergic' to.

The presenter, appearing on his Late Late Show, conceded that he'd been 'ungracious' to the waitstaff at Balthazar, but tried again to explain himself. 

McNally announced on Instagram that Corden was banned from the restaurant as punishment for rude and childish behavior on two occasions. 

On the first occasion, Corden was upset that a hair had been found in his food and demanded free drinks to make up for it, according to McNally. 

The second occasion involved his wife Julia ordering an egg-yolk omelet and receiving a plate with egg white on it. The final straw was when the remade omelet was sent out with a side of home fries instead of salad. 

'James Corden began yelling like crazy to the server,' McNally said, quoting the general manager's service report. 

But Corden insisted he didn't scream or make any 'derogatory remarks'. His only offense was making the 'unnecessary' and 'snide' comment that he'd 'make the omelet himself' if the kitchen staff were unable to.

My wife explained that she has a serious food allergy. 

'The meals came, my wife was given the food that she was allergic to. She hadn't taken a bite of it or anything, no worries, we sent it back. All was good.

'As her meal came wrong to the table the third time, in the heat of the moment I made a sarcastic rude comment about cooking it myself. It is a comment I deeply regret.

'I worked shifts at restaurants for years, I have such respect for anyone who does that job. 

'The restaurant manager and the server were lovely, they brought out four glasses of champagne and we were like 'that's not necessary, we don't need it, we had a great time'.

'But here's the truth of it - because I didn't shout or scream , I didn't get up out of my seat, I didn't call anyone names or use derogatory language, I have been walking around thinking that I've not done anything wrong.

'But I have, I made a rude comment.'