Passenger on Ryanair flight from Liverpool to Tenerife is removed from plane by police after it was forced to divert to Lisbon following mid air ‘altercation involving splattered blood’
- Ryanair flight FR4346 was forced to divert after a passenger became disruptive
- After landing in Lisbon, police boarded the plane and removed the passenger
- Witnesses revealed flight crew ‘raced’ to back of plane to break up altercation
Police dramatically boarded a Ryanair flight from Liverpool after reports of a ‘blood splattering altercation’ mid-air forced the plane to divert off its route to Lisbon.
Ryanair flight FR4346 departed Liverpool Airport at 6.29am on Friday and was due to land just a few hours later at Tenerife South Airport at 10.40am.
However, the flight was diverted to Lisbon after a passenger became disruptive during the flight.
This is the moment police officers in Lisbon boarded a diverted Ryanair flight to remove a passenger who had become ‘disruptive’ and was involved in an altercation
Plane trackers show how the Ryanair jet made a sharp right turn while flying over the Atlantic Ocean to land in Lisbon at 9.36am.
Ryanair confirmed the passenger was removed by police before the flight continued to the Canary Island, Liverpool Echo reports.
However, they declined to comment on further details of the incident.
A spokesperson for the budget airline said: ‘This flight from Liverpool to Tenerife (October 16) diverted to Lisbon after a passenger became disruptive inflight.
‘The aircraft landed normally and the passenger was removed by police upon arrival before the aircraft continued to Tenerife.’
Liverpool John Lennon Airport and Lisbon Police did not respond to requests to comment.
Data from Flight Radar shows how the flight made a sharp right turn to land in Lisbon
A passenger, who was on the diverted flight, revealed how passengers cheered when the disruptive man was removed by local police.
Describing what happened he said: ‘There was some shouting and then screaming at the back of the aircraft and flight attendants raced to the back of the plane.’
The man, who wished to remain anonymous, added that things ‘quietened down’ before an altercation ensued.
As the plane landed in Lisbon, the passenger said the aircraft door was opened and around five Portuguese police came on board.
He added: ‘Passengers cheered as he left the aircraft [and] someone shouted ‘you’re not so brave now then are you’…
‘The stewards were fantastic and calmly managed the situation, all thanks to them.’
Anthony Ainsworth from Tuebrook was on the return flight as a member of the same cabin crew spoke to customers about the dramatic inbound flight.
Passengers who witnessed the incident revealed how flight attendants ‘raced’ to the back of the plane to break up the altercation that occurred while the plane was en route to Tenerife
He said: ‘One of the cabin crew began speaking to one of the customers on the flight…
‘[The air steward said] he then became erratic and there was an altercation and a lot of blood splattered.
‘They calmed the situation down and strapped him at the front where he fell asleep.
‘They then had to land the plane in Portugal.’
Anthony added that on his return flight, a member of the cabin staff had blood on their shirt.
Ryanair said local police are now dealing with the incident.