A drunk passenger was seen in chaotic footage being dragged off a Ryanair flight after sparking a bloody brawl when he reportedly attempted to open the emergency doors in mid-air.
The heavily intoxicated man, in a white T-shirt and orange shorts, was still trying to resist as 13 French policemen carried him across the runway at Toulouse airport.
The September 4 flight from Bournemouth to Girona had to divert there after the man caused a fracas on board when he exclaimed ‘I want to go’ and headed for the door.
A mass brawl ensued as other passengers tried to physically restrain him.
The man allegedly spat at and threw punches at other passengers before he was pinned to the floor with a seatbelt tied around his ankles.
When he was put in a seat afterwards, he is said to have aimed a head-butt at a pensioner sat next to him.
Passengers were left in tears and some suffered panic attacks during the ordeal.
One witness said: ‘The whole event was very traumatic. The man had gone into the toilet and then afterwards was trying opening one of the emergency exit doors.
The heavily intoxicated man, in a white T-shirt and orange shorts, was still trying to resist as 13 French policemen carried him across the runaway at Toulouse airport
The September 4 flight from Bournemouth to Girona had to divert there after the man caused a fracas on board when he exclaimed ‘I want to go’ and headed for the door
‘He then went to try the other shouting “I want to go”.
‘That’s when a huge brawl started with a lot more than one man trying to get him away from the doors.
‘There was a big punch up and he then finally got taken down in the isle and was pinned to the floor where they then managed to get a seatbelt extender round his ankles to stop him kicking.’
Fellow passenger David Malone said: ‘They started brawling in the middle of the plane.
‘It went on for about 30 minutes and one guy was completely off his head, it took about three people to restrain him.
‘It was horrible, there was blood everywhere there were people screaming and crying.
‘It was horrible, disgusting really. It made you ashamed to be British to be honest.
‘It’s sad really, I felt sorry for the staff. Something needs to be done about the amount of alcohol they allow people to consume at the airport.’
The man allegedly spat at and threw punches at other passengers before he was pinned to the floor with a seatbelt tied around his ankles
The flight on Thursday carried on to Girona with a delay of around two hours.
A spokesperson for Ryanair said: ‘This flight from Bournemouth to Girona (4 Sept) was diverted to Toulouse after a passenger became disruptive onboard.
‘Crew called ahead for police assistance, who met the aircraft upon landing at Toulouse Airport and offloaded this passenger before this flight continued to Girona.
‘Ryanair has a strict zero tolerance policy towards passenger misconduct and will continue to take decisive action to combat unruly passenger behaviour, ensuring that all passengers and crew travel in a respectful and stress-free environment, without unnecessary disruption.’
