A Ryanair flight from the United Kingdom to the Canary Islands was forced to divert to Portugal after a brawl involving eight people erupted mid-flight, according to reports.
One passenger was dragged off the flight and arrested when the plane landed in Faro, after the group of drunken vacationers instigated a fight on the plane, video obtained by The Daily Mail shows.
Ryainair flight 3511 from Luton, London Airport to Lanzaaorte in the Canary Islands departed at around 8:15 a.m. and landed in Faro around 10:50 a.m — nearly an hour earlier than it was due to land in Arrecife, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.
Another passenger who recorded the fracas told The Daily Mail that there was “a group of men who appeared to have been drinking who were bothering some female passengers.”
When the pestering started to get out of hand, a flight attendant tried to intervene, but ended up getting knocked over, the witness said.
The commotion prompted the captain to warn the passengers over the loudspeaker that “unacceptable behavior” would not be tolerated, and threatened to land the plane in Portugal, according to the passenger.
When the passengers refused to let up, they were told 20 minutes later they were landing, the traveler told the outlet.
A man seen fighting on the plane initially exited the plane voluntarily, but stubbornly got back on. He was then forcibly removed by Portuguese authorities, who placed him in a headlock and pulled him off the plane, video shows.
Other passengers can be heard encouraging police as the man wrestled with police.
‘Bye bye mate!’ one man is heard shouting, according to the clip.
“Well done!” another woman yells.
The man was filmed being shoved into a police car in a separate video, the publication reported.
Portugal’s Public Security Police confirmed that they were called to deal with the “presence of eight disorderly passengers,” Portugal Resident reported.
Officers said they observed the passengers “shouting and hitting the cabin luggage lockers repeatedly,” as well as “drinking alcoholic beverages and disregarding the instruction given by the flight crew.”
“One of the unruly passengers … became hostile, refusing to leave and repeatedly disobeying orders directed at him,” police said.
Officers were forced to use “physical force due to his constant resident,” cops said.
The plane departed Faro at 11:50 a.m. and finally landed at its intended destination at 1:20 p.m., flight records show.
The Post has reached out to Ryanair for comment.
