Jet2 flight flying to UK forced to land in PORTUGAL over disruptive passenger
TOURISTS returning from their hols in Gran Canaria were forced into an emergency landing in Portugal after a passenger became disruptive.
A Jet2 flight to Newcastle Airport had to land in Porto, 1,100 miles away from its UK destination, so a traveller could be hauled off the plane.
Flight number LS542 was diverted as a result of the airline's "zero tolerance" approach.
Jet2 said: "We can confirm that flight LS542 from Gran Canaria to Newcastle diverted to Porto this morning so that a disruptive passenger could be offloaded.
"As a family-friendly airline, we take a zero-tolerance approach to disruptive behaviour.
"We will not hesitate to vigorously pursue any costs incurred as a result."
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Passengers who were on board the aircraft say they got trapped in Portugal as a result of an outburst by a "very, very, very intoxicated" man.
One said: "He wouldn't sit down or shut his mouth."
Another said the man was "very, very drunk" and refused to sit down, alleging: "[He] was arguing, swearing and kicked the air stewardess."
Just last week, the no-nonsense airline slapped a pair of brothers with an astonishing £50,000 bill and banned them from its jets for life.
Alfie and Kenneth Springthorpe, from Sidcup, southeast London, “displayed a catalogue of appalling behaviour” during the flight from Stansted to Crete, the carrier said in a statement.
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The plane was forced to divert to Corfu after the brothers became aggressive, violent and caused damage to the aircraft, a Jet2 spokesperson added.
Passengers were forced to wait on the tarmac for three hours and 45 minutes while local law enforcement dealt with the pair, before the flight could safely take off again for Crete.
The delay also meant the cabin crew ran out of operating hours and had to stay overnight on Crete.
Jet2’s managing director Phil Ward blasted the thug brothers in a statement.
'DEPLORABLE'
“The deplorable behaviour of these two passengers left our highly trained crew with no choice but to divert the aircraft to the nearest airport so that the police could offload them," he said.
“It is completely unacceptable that the pair caused such disruption for so many people and they must now face the consequences of their actions.
"As a family-friendly airline, we take a zero-tolerance approach to such behaviour.
"We have a successful track record when it comes to pursuing and recovering any losses that we incur.
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“We would of course also like to apologise to everyone impacted by this behaviour, which is thankfully very rare.”
And in 2019, 25-year-old Chloe Haines was slapped with an £85,000 bill and after she stormed the cockpit and screamed: “I’m going to kill everyone”.
Two RAF Typhoon fighters were scrambled to intercept the Airbus 321 around 45 minutes into its flight from Stansted to Dalaman, Turkey after the Costa Coffee worker went berserk.
Haines, who was travelling with her wheelchair-bound grandmother, had to be restrained after she sent one attendant “flying across the plane”.
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She tried to open the emergency exit door mid-flight in front of terrified passengers.
She was jailed for two years in 2020 after admitting endangering the safety of a passenger plane and assault by beating.