A mid-air brawl involving around 10 passengers forced an easyJet plane bound for Liverpool to fly back to Tenerife.
According to air traffic control, the plane’s captain decided to return to Spain just 30 minutes after departure due to the danger the fight “posed to the safety of the flight”.
Police then met flight EZY3352 when it touched back down at Tenerife South airport on Tuesday evening, as per the crew’s request.
The air traffic controller said in its statement, originally written in Spanish: “Our full support goes out to the crews and passengers who are increasingly having to endure these situations.”
EasyJet said that the 186-passenger plane “returned to the airport and was met by police due to a group of passengers behaving disruptively. The flight then continued to Liverpool.”
The airline added: “Our cabin and ground crew are trained to assess all situations and to act quickly and appropriately to ensure that the safety of the flight and other customers is not compromised at any time.
“We take these incidents very seriously and do not tolerate disruptive behaviour towards our staff. The safety and wellbeing of customers and crew is always our highest priority.”
Air traffic control said that the flight’s crew informed the ground that a group of about 10 passengers had started a flight on board after 30 minutes of flight, and that they needed to return to the airport with a police presence requested upon arrival.
They added: “The captain decided to return due to the danger it posed to the safety of the flight. We expedited their return as much as possible while coordinating with the airport for police presence.”
