A Ryanair flight had to be diverted to offload several disruptive passengers – including a man who reportedly urinated on one of the plane seats while “very drunk”.
The flight had left Manchester Airport for Tenerife on 18 September but had to make an emergency stop on the Portuguese island of Porto Santo so that local police could march the unruly passengers off the aircraft.
The pilot reportedly had no choice but to make the early landing after a number of arguments broke out on board.
The man accused of relieving himself on the seat next to his own looked “rotten drunk” and had been told numerous times by flight attendants to sit down, according to an eyewitness.
The unnamed traveller also alleged that flight crew, including pilots, were aware that trouble was brewing before take-off.
He added that the disorder continued despite warnings from the pilot that police might need to get involved.
Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, the passenger said: “The flight was delayed at Manchester Airport so there was more drinking time.
“Usually when you get on a delayed flight, the first thing you hear is the captain and cabin crew welcoming you on board and apologising for the delay.
“But straight away the first announcement on the system was ‘anyone found drinking their own alcohol or smoking in the toilets will be dismissed from the plane and, if needs be, we’ll divert’ – so they were aware of this passenger straight away.
“The guy was just wild. He was very drunk and was up and down out of his seat and was told to sit down loads of times.
“Eventually, he wanted to go to the toilet but he was told no, so he stood up and there was an empty seat adjacent to him and he just revealed himself and had a wee on the seat.”
The passenger added: “People were trying to reason with the man and talk to him but he was gone. It was just mad.”
But he praised the “brilliant” cabin crew for how they managed the incident, saying they “handled the situation really well because it wasn’t nice to deal with”.
A Ryanair spokesperson said: “This flight from Manchester to Tenerife (18 Sept) diverted to Porto Santo after a small number of passengers became disruptive inflight.
“The aircraft landed safely, and these passengers were removed from the aircraft by local police before it continued to Tenerife.”
