A passenger onboard a Ryanair flight from London was arrested for drunken behaviour that forced the pilot to make an emergency landing in Spain.
The Boeing 737-800 operating flight FR1080 on Friday took off from London Stansted International Airport (STN) for Lisbon Humberto Delgado Airport (LIS). Subsequently, the aircraft had to make an emergency landing at Vigo Airport, in Spain, following a request from the captain.
Soon after the takeoff, a Portuguese man in his 50s, whose name has not been released, began to create a nuisance, causing massive trouble for the other passengers.
The man, believed to be a native of Setúbal, showed a hostile attitude and signs of drunkenness when he boarded the Irish carrier. He had bought and consumed several bottles of alcohol in the duty-free stores in the British terminal, according to Spanish media outlet La Voz de Galicia.
The Portuguese man supposedly punched the seat in front of him several times, forcing passengers to leave their seats for fear of being hit. He was also seen confronting the cabin crew.
Despite the efforts of the Ryanair staff, who tried to calm him down, the man became progressively more violent, so the pilot decided to request an emergency landing in Vigo.
Upon landing in Spain, Guardia Civil agents forced the Portuguese man to disembark, receiving a standing ovation from the passengers. The flight continued to Lisbon at 10:32 AM and the Portuguese man was released at the end of the afternoon.
As per the eyewitnesses, the man already presented obvious signs of drunkenness, according to media reports. Passengers are usually denied boarding if they show signs of poor attitude, mainly if they show signs of drunken behaviour. Therefore, it is unclear why the Portuguese man was allowed to board Ryanair in the first place.
Earlier, another terrifying incident was reported where a man was pinned down by cabin crew as wild scenes broke out in a Qantas flight travelling from Bali to Australia on Dec. 31.
The crew was forced to tie and pin down the 28-year-old man from Victoria, who reportedly had "gone crazy" on board flight QF46. Other passengers wrestled with the man before he was pinned face down in the aisle by a Qantas staff member.
Australian Federal Police (AFP) were on alert upon the flight's landing in Melbourne. They boarded the flight when it landed in Melbourne "after receiving a report of a disturbance on an international flight into Australia". The man was supposedly taken to hospital for a medical assessment.
Police are investigating the whole episode, and no charges have been made yet.
