By Bill Heaney
It’s quite remarkable how the world has changed in such a short time. It used to be on the last bus from Helensburgh or Balloch to Dumbarton when dance halls and pubs had closed that these things happened.
Holidaymakers sunning themselves on the beach in Barcelona. Picture by Bill Heaney
Now it’s on holiday flights to and from sunnier climes that fights break out amongst passengers.
A plane full of holidaymakers travelling from Scotland to Tenerife was forced to divert to Portugal so the rowdies could be hauled off the flight on Sunday.
Ryanair passengers had to be pulled apart from each other just days after a similar brawl broke out on the same route.
The plane travelling from Edinburgh to Tenerife was forced to divert to Portugal so the rowdies could be hauled off the flight on Sunday, February 25.
Foul-mouthed louts began fighting and “throwing bottles” on the plane, which left children “terrified” and “in tears”.
In video footage sent to the Daily Record a woman can be seen pointing at a man and yelling: “Shut up, shut the f*** up.” He responds: “It was f***ing your man”. Another female passenger attempts to calm things down before the raging woman barks back: “Shut the f*** up.”
The FR2969 flight from Edinburgh Airport departed at around 1pm on Sunday before touching down in Porto at 3.20pm. The plane finally arrived in Tenerife at around 7pm, two hours later than scheduled.
Shaken passenger David Love, 43, told the Record: “It was the worst flight of my life. After my holiday I will need to take an extra week off to recover.
“It was rowdy from the start. Everyone could see it kicking off but the stewards were powerless. There was a couple of scuffles and they decided to divert the plane and then it got worse and a bigger fight broke it.
“Kids were screaming, bottles were being thrown. The girls were worse than the boys for constant shouting and swearing.”
In a second clip a number of men and women can be seen shouting and grabbing each other as desperate flight staff attempt to control the rammy.
David added: “It was more than just a few fighting, there was about 12 of them. They should have put more of them off the plane in Portugal. The airline should be given more support to take enforcement action when they see the crowd getting rowdy.
“The stewards tried to calm it down but they were powerless. There should be a breathalyser test for passengers to complete before flying.”
Ryanair confirmed a number of passengers were removed from the flight, adding that it was now a matter for local police.
A Ryanair spokesperson said: “This flight from Edinburgh to Tenerife was diverted to Porto when a small number of passengers became disruptive onboard. Crew called ahead for police assistance and the aircraft was met by local police upon arrival who removed these passengers before this flight continued to Tenerife. This is now a matter for local police.”
It comes just days after drunks were hauled off a Ryanair plane on the same route from Edinburgh to Tenerife by Spanish police.
After a brawl broke out between two brothers mid-air, passengers said they endured hours of ‘chaos’ on Monday, February 19.
Hannah MacDonald, who shared a video of the fight, said passengers were left shaken up after things turned violent.
In the shocking footage, two men and one woman were seen shouting and bawling at each other before punches were thrown.
They were storming up and down the middle aisle and appeared to shout at anyone who attempted to intervene. Passengers and flight crew tried to break up the fight, before demanding they take their seats.
The group took no notice of the orders and attempted to carry on the argument before joining forces and threatening an elderly passenger who asked them to stop.
Hannah claimed the group were all sitting near the front of the plane and had been drinking since take off and were asked to stop swearing by older passengers.
Spanish police were called and the pair were kicked off the flight when they arrived in Tenerife.