Edinburgh flight makes emergency landing due to drunken passenger ‘touching flight attendant inappropriately’

Drunken passenger forces Edinburgh to Tenerife flight to make emergency landing

A flight from Edinburgh Airport to Tenerife has been forced to make an emergency landing on Friday.

Jet2 flight LS727 was reportedly forced to divert to Porto Santo Airport in Madeira, over 330 miles away, due to a disturbance on board, caused by a passenger.

According to one eye witness, police had to escort a drunken man from the plane after it landed.

A Jet2 flight from Edinburgh Airport to Tenerife has been forced to make an emergency landing on Friday, due to drunken passenger on board.

Speaking to the Evening News, Susan Boyle said: “The plane had to make a diversion to Porto Santo Airport as passengers were terrified of the abusive behaviour of a man on board. He was walking drunkenly up and down the aisles as flight staff were unable to control him. He was threatening anyone who went near him.

“At one point, he touched an air stewardess inappropriately and that was the last straw. Police were waiting to arrest him when the fight landed.”

The Evening News has contacted Jet2 for comment.

The latest incident comes just weeks after brawls broke out on two Ryanair flights from Edinburgh Airport to Tenerife, with one of the planes being forced to divert to Portugal to remove rowdy passengers.

As reported in the Evening News, a Ryanair flight from Edinburgh Airport to Tenerife, on February 19, saw two men arrested when the flight landed.

In video footage shared online, one man, dressed in blue, and another in grey, can be seen arguing in the aisle before turning their anger towards another flyer. Staff and pilots continually plead with them to return to their seats, before a woman can be seen launching a frenzied attack on one of the men. The woman was filmed hitting the man in the grey and swearing at other passengers.

The two men both appeared to shout at anyone who tried to intervene and stop them. The video also shows the man in blue spitting on his hand as other travellers look on in disgust.

The unsavoury brawl eventually came to an end after the plane landed in Tenerife and the disruptive passengers were escorted away by local law enforcement.

Hannah MacDonald, who was onboard the flight, said the group had been drinking heavily since take off. Speaking to the Daily Record, she said: "It was just absolutely insane.” Ms MacDonald claimed that the woman continued to shout abuse for the majority of the flight and said she was acting like a "wild animal".

She added: "It took thirty minutes for the police to arrive, meanwhile we all had to stay on the flight and listen to them kick off for longer. The crew were unable to control them and the pilot stayed in his cockpit until the end.

"However as soon as the police arrived the girl piped down and started to behave like a victim that had done nothing wrong. There were all different nationalities on the flight and we were all mortified. It's people like this that give Scotland a bad name.”

A Ryanair spokesperson said: “The crew of this flight from Edinburgh to Tenerife on February 19 called ahead for police assistance after a small number of passengers became disruptive onboard. The aircraft was met by local police upon arrival at Tenerife and these passengers were removed. This is now a matter for local police.”

Just days later, passengers travelling on another Ryanair flight from Edinburgh to Tenerife were hauled off the aircraft by police after a fight broke out and bottles were allegedly thrown.

According to the Scottish Sun, the incident left children “terrified” and “in tears”, with one passenger describing it as the “scariest flight I've ever been on”.

The incident, which took place on February 25, forced pilots to divert the plane and make an emergency landing in Porto, Portugal. The “disruptive” passengers were met by police when the plane touched down.

One passenger took to social media after the plane touched down to explain what happened, reports the Daily Express. They said it was the “scariest flight I've ever been on”, adding “big group on flight, fights broke out, bottles throw, women almost injured. Get this little s**t off the plane… kids crying, everyone in bits…”

They added: Currently waiting for the police to take some people off the plane then hopefully get to Tenerife. Luckily everyone is okay at the moment.”