Ryanair flight diverted after chaotic mid-air altercation, police pull man from plane: reports

News

by Patrick Reilly

A Ryanair flight from the UK to the Canary Islands was forced to divert to Portugal after a fight broke out between eight people mid-flight, according to reports.

A passenger was pulled off the plane and arrested when the plane landed in Faro, after a group of drunken holidaymakers instigated a fight on board, video obtained by the Daily Mail showed.

Ryanair flight 3511 departed from London’s Luton Airport to Lanzaorte in the Canary Islands at about 8:15 a.m. and landed in Faro at about 10:50 a.m. — about an hour before it was scheduled to land in Arrecife, according to flight tracking website FlightAware. .

Another passenger who recorded the fight told the Daily Mail that there was “a group of men who appeared to have been drinking and were harassing some of the female passengers”.

When the harassment started getting out of control, the flight attendant tried to intervene, but ended up falling, the witness said.

The uproar prompted the plane’s captain to warn passengers via loudspeaker that “unacceptable behavior” would not be tolerated, and he threatened to land the plane in Portugal, according to what the passenger said.

When passengers refused to stop, they were told 20 minutes later that they would disembark, the traveler told the outlet.

A man seen fighting on the plane initially exited the plane voluntarily, but stubbornly returned to it. A video clip showed that the Portuguese authorities forcefully took him out, put him in a headlock and took him off the plane.

Other passengers could be heard encouraging the police as the man struggled with the police.

“good bye my friend!” A man’s voice was heard screaming, according to the clip.

“I did well!” shouts another woman.

The newspaper reported that the man was filmed being pushed into a police car in a separate video.

Portuguese Public Security Police confirmed they had been called to deal with “the presence of eight disorderly passengers,” Portugal Resident reported.

Officers said they observed passengers “screaming and repeatedly hitting the cabin baggage lockers,” in addition to “drinking alcoholic beverages and ignoring instructions given by the cabin crew.”

“One of the unruly passengers…became aggressive, refused to leave and repeatedly disobeyed orders,” police said.

The officers had to use “physical force due to his permanent residence,” cops said.

Flight records show that the plane left Faro at 11:50 a.m. and finally landed at its intended destination at 1:20 p.m.

The Post has contacted Ryanair for comment.