A drunken passenger had to be dragged off of a TUI flight after causing mid-air chaos.
The Turkey-bound flight had only just left Glasgow Airport at around 5.15pm yesterday when the pilot was forced to divert to Newcastle International Airport due to the erratic behaviour of the unruly passenger. The man was said to be extremly intoxicated when he allegedly assaulted a member of cabin crew. Police officers were called and removed him from the plane at Newcastle, hauling him into custody.
The shocking incident was captured on video, showing the man being dragged off the plane in front of hundreds of furious passengers. As a result of the incident, travellers lost five hours of their holidays. One passenger told Glasgow Live: "They were seen drunk while boarding the plane. He refused to surrender his own bottle of gin and became verbally abusive.
"An announcement was made 45 minutes after take-off that we were diverting with reason of unruly passenger. It took a further 45 minutes before we arrived at Newcastle, at around 7pm. Two police officers boarded the plane and handcuffed him but he became unsettled so two more officers came on board. His partner was also removed from the plane to a chorus of boos as she gave everyone the middle finger.
"There were further delays in removing his bags from the hold. Cabin crew were replaced due to the serious event and exceeding hours. The plane was also refuelled having burnt off excess to allow safe emergency landing." After waiting on the tarmac for five hours, the passenger added: "It was clearly distressing for the children on board and frustrating for all. The captain visited every passenger personally in the aftermath to answer questions.
Airport worker dies 'after being sucked into aeroplane engine' in freak accident"While a scenario crew were prepared for, there was slow information in whether we would proceed or disembark at Newcastle. They couldn’t let us off the plane due to border control issues. It was very costly and disruptive to 200 people on board. TUI were very professional and appreciative of the patience of all."
After having an "unexpected start" to their holiday, it is understood that the airline offered each passenger a holiday voucher in compensation. The Mirror has contacted TUI and Northumbria Police for comment.