'Eight violent passengers' see cops storm easyJet plane over 'possible attacks'
Spanish police stormed an easyJet flight travelling to the Canary Islands after receiving reports of "eight violent passengers" on board.
The plane, travelling from Manchester to Tenerife, had to be diverted to Lanzarote yesterday. Flight EZY34TV left Manchester just after 7am on Friday and touched down in Lanzarote around 1.20pm local time. Spanish air traffic controllers revealed police had been called to meet the plane because of the "possibility of assaults" in a short statement. They said in a tweet: "The crew of a flight from Manchester to Tenerife South has informed us of the presence of eight violent passengers on board. Given the possibility of attacks, they have requested a detour to Lanzarote."
Saying they had assisted the pilot in reaching his unscheduled destination, the air traffic controllers added: "A police presence on arrival was coordinated. We reiterate our support for air crews and passengers who have to endure these situations." Local reports said four men on the plane had been identified and reported to the Spanish Air Safety and Security Agency (AESA) which will now fine the holidaymakers. They are said to have been "drunk" when they started causing problems although they co-operated with police after the plane reached Lanzarote.
Standard procedure in Spain unless police witness a crime being committed usually revolves around a formal identification of the person signalled as the cause of problems and taken off a plane so they can be handed a fine. Fines for the standard type of breach range from around £50 to nearly £40,000. They can also be hit with the cost of any diversion, and face a flying ban with the airline.
According to La Provincia, the plane resumed its flight to Tenerife at 2.40pm local time. A spokesperson for easyJet told The Mirror: "easyJet can confirm that flight EZY2011 from Manchester to Tenerife on 29 September was diverted to Lanzarote where the aircraft was met by police due to passengers behaving disruptively onboard. The flight then continued to Tenerife.
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"easyJet's cabin crew are trained to assess and evaluate all situations and to act quickly and appropriately to ensure that the safety of the flight and other passengers is not compromised at any time. Whilst such incidents are rare we take them very seriously and do not tolerate abusive or threatening behaviour towards our crew or other passengers.
"We would like to apologise to the other passengers for any inconvenience caused. The safety and wellbeing of our passengers, crew and ground agents is always easyJet's priority."
In a second incident two British women described as "drunk" were met by police as another easyJet plane coming from Luton landed in Fuerteventura around 1.30pm yesterday. Local reports said they had been identified by cops after being accused of an air safety breach.
Last month a packed holiday jet heading from Ireland to the Canary Islands was forced to make an unscheduled stop because of an unruly passenger. The Aer Lingus plane re-routed on its way from Dublin to Gran Canaria so the problem passenger could be handed over to police at Santiago-Rosalia de Castro airport in Galicia. Spanish air traffic controllers confirmed the plane had landed successfully before continuing its journey southwards.
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