Shock moment drunk Brit & wife hauled off Ryanair flight for hitting crew & spitting at passengers after ‘downing vodka’
A RYANAIR flight to Ibiza had to be diverted after a drunken Brit downed neat vodka then assaulted cabin crew and other passengers.
The plane carrying holidaymakers from Manchester landed in Toulouse, where police hauled the sozzled traveller and his wife off the plane.
Video of the attack showed the boozed-up travellers shouting and swearing at French cops, before assaulting a fellow holidaymaker as he was being escorted off the flight.
Another Brit on the flight, who asked to remain anonymous, said the couple were sat about 10 rows apart and the man spent the first hour of the flight “swigging duty free vodka” before he started arguing with a male cabin crew member and punched him in the face.
As cabin crew tried to restrain the man, dressed in a blue top and baseball cap, he assaulted another passenger and spat at a woman, telling her to “suck my ****.”
“He was kicking off with everyone, he was out of control,” the witness said.
Attendants reportedly warned him that the flight would have to be diverted if he didn’t calm down, and he replied “I don’t give a f***.”
The altercation lasted for about 40 minutes until Flight FR2626, which left Manchester airport on time at 5.20pm on Sunday, landed and 12 French police officers took him away in custody.
In footage, the visibly intoxicated man who appears to be in his late 20s is led off as passengers cheer.
After he left the plane, his partner started harassing another traveller, hitting him and calling him a “paedo”.
In another video, police are seen physically restraining the woman, barefoot in a black dress, before removing her from the plane.
The Ryanair flight spent just over an hour and a half on the tarmac at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport before continuing its journey to Ibiza.
Last week Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary called for flyers to be limited to two drinks at airports to crackdown on a rise in disorder on flights.
He said: “We don’t want to begrudge people having a drink. But we don’t allow people to drink-drive, yet we keep putting them up in aircraft at 33,000ft.
“In the old days, people who drank too much would eventually fall over or fall asleep. But now those passengers are also on tablets and powder,” he added.
“It’s the mix. You get much more aggressive behaviour that becomes very difficult to manage.”
He added it was difficult for gate staff to identify drunk people before they boarded.
He said: “As long as they can stand up and shuffle they will get through. Then when the plane takes off, we see the misbehaviour.”
Ryanair staff had now started carrying out hand luggage checks to stop passengers on flights to destinations including Ibiza and the Greek islands from smuggling duty-free alcohol onboard.
He said: “We used to only allow them to take bottles of water on board, not realising that they were full of vodka. Now we don’t even allow them to take those. Ibiza is by far and away the worst destination for it.”
Passengers have now started boasting of how to smuggle alcohol onboard plans on social media by posting “life hack” videos showing themselves pouring glasses of wine they’d bought at airport bars into their water bottles, coffee cups and whatever other vessels they had on hand.
Others recorded themselves filling up water or soft drink bottles with booze they’d snagged in duty free, before heading through the gates onto their flights.
An AirportsUK spokesperson said any passenger found guilty of disruptive behaviour, whether due to alcohol or other causes, faces big fines and up to two years in jail.
The spokesperson added that airports have “a wide range of measures in place to monitor and tackle disruptive behaviour and ensure everyone’s safety”.
“Airports are committed to providing a safe and enjoyable travel experience for all passengers and we’re pleased that the vast majority of travellers continue to enjoy their journeys responsibly.”
A Ryanair spokesperson said: “This flight from Manchester to Ibiza diverted to Toulouse after a small group of passengers became disruptive inflight.
“The crew called ahead for police assistance, who met the aircraft upon landing at Toulouse and offloaded two passengers before this flight continued to Ibiza.
“We sincerely apologise to passengers for any inconvenience caused as a result of these unruly passengers’ behaviour, which was beyond Ryanair’s control. This is now a matter for local police.”