Two passengers aboard a Jet2 flight travelling from Turkey to Britain on Thursday engaged in an intense fight, forcing the pilots to land the plane in Brussels with authorities removing both from the plane.
Several videos surfaced online showing the altercation between the two passengers surfaced on social media.
What had happened?
The flight, which took off from Turkey’s Antalya and was scheduled to touch down at Manchester, was forced to land in Brussels after roughly three hours following the brawl, New York Times reported.
Upon arrival at Brussels, police officials quicky stepped into the aircraft and removed the two passengers. Jet2 further banned them from travelling on the airline for life, said an official statement cited by NYT, which attributed the fight to “the appalling behavior of two disruptive passengers.”
“We will also vigorously pursue them to recover the costs that we incurred as a result of this diversion. As a family friendly airline, we take a zero-tolerance approach to disruptive passenger behavior, and we are very sorry that other customers and our colleagues onboard had to experience this too,” read the Jet2 statement.
Although the brawl initially broke out between the two passengers, several people including men and women of various ages appeared to be involved in the argument as they crowded the aisle of the plane. Shouts echoed through the cabin as the crew members failed to mediate the situation.
The clip also showed the argument which heated to a point when a flight attendant stood on a seat and begged the passengers to stop fighting as the men held each other in headlock. Kicks and punches were also thrown.
Jet2’s stringent measures against disruptive flyers
According to the NYT report, Jet2 had previously banned and fined several people who caused disruptions in flights.
In 2022, two brothers were fined a whopping amount of £50,000 (about $68,000 at current exchange rates) and handed them a lifetime ban as their violent argument led to a diversion in the flight route.
It also barred a couple from opting to fly Jet2 in 2017 when their disagreement quickly turned physical and forced the plane to divert and touch down earlier.