A British father is facing up to five years in prison after attempting to ‘open the doors’ of a packed Ryanair plane while it was in mid-flight.
The accused – who has not yet been named – was in custody in Toulouse on Monday. He is said to be ‘the ring leader’ of a stag group of ‘drunk men’ who were dragged off the flight by elite special forces police last Friday.
The plane was on a low-cost route between London-Luton Airport and Alicante, in the south of Spain, but was forced to make an emergency landing in France after the man made the threat.
‘He was next to an emergency door, and trying to open it,’ said an investigating source. ‘It was terrifying for everybody else on the flight. The pilot had no other option except to land the plane.’
Cabin crew and fellow passengers had apparently attempted to calm the group, and several parents requested they watched their language around the children on board.
But this did not stop the spiralling chaos. Following several more disturbances, the pilot announced an unscheduled landing in Toulouse, France.
The plane at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport, where a unit of the Air Transport Gendarmerie Company (CGTA) was waiting. They stormed on board, and the man was removed by four officers after they restrained him and placed him in handcuffs.
‘When it became clear that the majority of the group, excluding the stag himself, were being removed from the aircraft, tensions escalated further,’ a passenger said.
A British father is facing up to five years in prison after attempting to ‘open the doors’ of a packed Ryanair plane while it was in mid-flight
Flyer Tania Nichols said the group had been ‘loud and unruly’ and that ‘even before take-off, they were moving around the cabin, swapping seats and ignoring basic safety protocols’
Another video showed a passenger being dragged away by his ear by a cop on board the flight
The investigating source said: ‘He was very drunk and was taken to a Border Police cell to sober up. His blood alcohol level was so high that it was a number of hours before he could be spoken to.
‘Around four of his friends were taken off the flight at the same time, and arrested.
‘The principal accused is now at the centre of a judicial enquiry, and faces trial and a punishment of up to five years.’
CGTA commander Ludovic Fornari, meanwhile, praised the ‘extreme professionalism’ of his team, and the other French units ‘who cooperated with us’.
A police source in Toulouse confirmed the flight was diverted to the city at ‘around 9.30pm on Friday’. After the troublemakers were removed, the flight was cleared for take-off again, and left at 10.15pm.
A video posted on TikTok by a passenger shows the arrest of the drunken men by the police.
‘To cut a long story short, two rowdy bachelor party boys started fighting several times, ignored the crew and refused to sit down,’ said one passenger.
‘They shouldn’t have even boarded the plane – they were openly drinking duty-free in the departure lounge and could barely stand up.’
While the first two men agreed to leave the plane, violence escalated when a man wearing a baseball cap was also asked to leave.
‘No, no, no, no, it’s not possible,’ he shouted, before jumping up from his seat.
As one of the officers eventually gets the passenger in an upright position, they become embroiled in a verbal altercation as his son stands up and tells the cops: ‘He didn’t start that, they started it, my dad did not start that’.
While an officer begins to handcuffs his father, the son pleads for someone to help him, yelling: ‘That’s my dad’, before being pulled out of his seat by a cop too.
Shouting into Nichols’ camera, he directs her to stop filming, being dragged down the aisle by the officers.
As he’s guided down the aisle, another man in a tracksuit is restrained and follows his friends off the plane.
Another flyer, Tania Nichols, who uploaded the dramatic footage to TikTok on Sunday, told the Daily Mail that the group – who were seated opposite her – had been ‘loud and unruly’ and that ‘even before take-off, they were moving around the cabin, swapping seats and ignoring basic safety protocols’.
She also claimed one of the men had moved seats to be closer to her friend, before trying to cuddle and kiss the passenger, but cabin crew quickly moved him back to his original seat.
As the flight took off, Nichols said they immediately began drinking duty-free booze and ‘engaging in loud, inappropriate conversations all within earshot of young children seated nearby’.
Their disruptive behaviour quickly escalated, but according to the flyer, the groom himself made a clear effort to distance himself from the troublemakers and did not appear to be involved in the actions of the rest of the group.
‘At one point, two members of the group appeared to be in a heated altercation. They were visibly pushing, clashing heads, and one man’s shirt was torn as others attempted to separate them,’ Nichols said.
A video posted on TikTok by a passenger shows the arrest of the drunken men by the police
A violet struggle broke out between a flyer and two officers as they battled to restrain him, but the altercation spilled into the next row of seats as he attempted to throw himself out of the arms of the cops
As one of the officers eventually gets the passenger in an upright position, they become embroiled in a verbal altercation as his younger son stands up and tells the cops: ‘He didn’t start that, they started it, my dad did not start that’
Shouting into the flyer’s camera, the son directs her to stop filming, before warning an officer: ‘You’re making a mistake if you’re coming for me’
Cheering can be heard from passengers as the men were all removed from the aircraft
‘Shockingly, some of the group were seen spitting on seats and putting their feet on passengers’ headrests – one woman was even kicked in the head by a member resting his legs over her seat’.
Cheering can be heard from passengers as the men were all removed from the aircraft.
‘Throughout the entire ordeal, the cabin crew were absolutely outstanding – remaining calm, professional, and doing everything they could to manage the situation and reassure other passengers,’ Nichols said.
‘They handled an incredibly difficult situation with grace and professionalism, and they deserve to be recognised for their efforts,’ she added.
As in Britain, the maximum penalty for ‘endangering the safety of an aircraft’ in France is five years in prison, plus a fine equivalent to around £60,000.
Anyone charged with being ‘drunk on a plane’ in France or in the UK faces a maximum sentence of two years, with a fine equivalent to around £4000.
A Ryanair spokesman said: ‘This flight from London-Luton to Alicante was diverted to Toulouse after several passengers disrupted the flight.
‘The crew then requested the intervention of the police, who met the plane upon arrival at Toulouse airport and disembarked these passengers before the flight returned to its original destination.’
Ryanair ‘has a zero-tolerance policy for unacceptable passenger behavior and will continue to take strict measures to address it, ensuring all passengers and crew have a smooth and enjoyable journey, without unnecessary disruption,’ the spokesman said.
Ryanair has been complaining about the behavior of drunk British passengers on its planes for years.
IATA, the global airline association, said in May: ‘The growing trend in incidents involving unruly passengers is worrying.’
In France, 40 drunk incidents per 1,000 flights were reported by French airlines last year in 2024, compared to 30 in 2021, according to figures by French Civil Aviation Authority (DGAC).
Michael O’Leary, the head of Ryanair, is demanding that airport bars limit the sale of alcohol to passengers to two drinks.
U.S. company Delta Airlines is even calling for the creation of a national blacklist to ban individuals of drunk flying from from flying on all American airlines.
