A man was hauled off a busy flight to Italy by police after getting into a blazing row with a woman who was trying to console her crying baby.
The 6.25am Ryanair flight from London Stansted to Cagliari, Sardinia, on 6 July was delayed as a result of the incident.
The flight was preparing to take off when the baby started crying a few seats away from a male passenger, an eyewitness said.
Video of the incident shows police officers telling the man to leave the plane. A man can be heard shouting “get off” as a crew member tells other passengers to sit down.
The row was sparked after the man, who has not been identified, started “shouting” at the mother, telling her to “shut her baby up”.
Staff working on the plane asked him to remain calm but he refused and asked to speak to the captain, making the baby “scream even more”.
“Babies do that when their sleep is disturbed by an early flight – there’s nothing you can do as a parent,” the witness, who didn’t want to be named, told The Independent.
“It’s unpleasant but part of life – nobody’s fault. But the male passenger would have none of it.
“After failing to calm him down, the air stewards decided they could not have this on a three-hour flight, so instructed the pilot to return to the gate and called the police.”
Two female police officers arrived and initially, the man refused to say which bag was his hand luggage, and the argument continued.
The officers eventually convinced him to leave the plane and he was escorted off the aircraft.
A Ryanair spokesperson said: “The crew of this flight from London to Cagliari requested police assistance before take-off after a passenger became disruptive onboard.
“Local police removed the individual, and the aircraft departed for Cagliari following a short delay.”
Essex Police confirmed officers attended the incident although no offence was identified and no arrest was made.
