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A drunk passenger on a Ryanair flight from Manchester to Ibiza was forcibly removed from the plane after a violent outburst that included hitting cabin crew members and spitting at fellow passengers.
The man’s behaviour was so out of control that the pilot diverted the aeroplane to Toulouse airport in southern France, where police were waiting to take him off the flight.
As he was removed, a female passenger that he was travelling with turned violent and was also removed from the plane by police.
According to a witness, the altercation on flight FR2626 took place on Sunday evening, when a member of the flight crew attempted to confiscate a bottle of duty-free vodka from the unruly passenger, who had been consuming alcohol during the flight.
A passenger said the man began arguing with a male cabin crew member and punched him in the face.
Despite warnings from the crew that the plane would be diverted if his behviour continued, witnesses said he went on to assualt a passenger and spit at a woman in an outburst that lasted around 40 minutes.
Jamal Stewart, 30, from Leeds, who was on board told the Manchester Evening News: “A guy was arrested who’d started on a woman and then we stopped in France. He got arrested and she just lost it and started scrapping with everyone.”
The woman, who was barefoot, was filmed hitting and shouting at other passengers before police took her off the flight in Toulouse. Other passengers were caught on camera cheering as the two people were escorted from the flight.
However, the incident cause a delay for everyone as to Ibiza.
In a statement, a Ryanair spokesperson said: “This flight from Manchester to Ibiza (8 Sep) diverted to Toulouse after a small group of passengers became disruptive inflight. The crew called ahead for police assistance, who met the aircraft upon landing at Toulouse and offloaded two passengers before this flight continued to Ibiza.
“We sincerely apologise to passengers for any inconvenience caused as a result of these unruly passengers’ behaviour, which was beyond Ryanair’s control. This is now a matter for local police.”
This incident comes just a few weeks after a Ryanair passenger talked about how he had to act as a security guard after a drunk passenger got violent on a flight to Lanzarote.
And two months ago, a Ryanair flight to Agadir had to be diverted after a “mass brawl” broke out mid-flight.
The boss of Ryanair, Michael O’Leary, has claimed that air rage is at an all-time high, blaming the high level of flight delays across Europe this summer – together with growing numbers of passengers taking drugs as well as alcohol.
“We need to have a ban on airports – not [on] selling alcohol, but limiting the amount of alcohol that can be sold to any passenger to two alcoholic drinks,” he said.
“So in the same way that you have to show your boarding pass when you go through duty free to buy cigarettes or alcohol, we believe you should have to show your boarding pass to buy an alcoholic drink at a bar at an airport. And you shouldn’t be served more than two alcoholic drinks – particularly when flights are delayed.”
