Ryanair Passengers Cheer as ‘Rude’ Travelers Are Removed by Police After Allegedly Starting a ‘Fight’ On Board

NEED TO KNOW

• A group of Ryanair passengers were removed from an aircraft after allegedly being “loud and rude” and starting a “fight” on board their Sept. 26 flight

• A video taken by a fellow traveler shows a member of the group standing in his seat and lunging into the aisle after getting confronted by French police

• In the background of the video, other passengers clapped and cheered during the altercation

A Ryanair flight from London to Spain was diverted to France last week to remove a group of unruly passengers on board.

According to data collected by FlightAware, Ryanair flight FR8425 was set to depart London’s Luton Airport for Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport in Spain on the afternoon of Friday, Sept. 26. However, the flight diverted to Toulouse-Blagnac Airport while it was flying over France.

A spokesperson for the airline told the Associated Press the plane diverted after “a small group of passengers became disruptive onboard.”

“They’d been drinking a lot before the flight,” one eyewitness told the outlet. “When on the flight waiting to take off, one group was passing around a few bottles of Coke which they were very loudly talking about having put rum in.”

According to the witness, the men were divided into two rows, separated by a line of women in between.

“After about 30 minutes in the air, they had already been loud and rude; swearing a lot and spilling drinks over a group of women and their laptop,” the witness added.

Soon, a “fight” broke out between the group and another flyer who “told them off.” Crews decided to divert to Toulouse and alerted authorities of their arrival.

In a video captured by a fellow passenger, uniformed members of France’s National Gendarmerie boarded the plane and followed a flight attendant towards the rowdy flyers. When they arrived at the first row, two members of the group cooperated with authorities and left their seats. Surrounding the scene were other travelers with their phones out recording the incident.

When authorities made it to the next row, a man wearing a blue baseball cap with a tattooed arm stood on his seat after he was addressed by officers. The man then cursed and threw his arms up trying to escape the authorities’ grasp. Then, he lunged into the aisle before officers were able to stop him. In the background, fellow passengers cheered and clapped during the altercation.

Sitting in the same row was a younger male who shouted at police. “My dad did not start that,” he says in the clip before grabbing the arm of a police officer.

Finally, the last two passengers in the row — including the son — were escorted by police off the aircraft.

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After the passengers were removed, the Ryanair flight departed Toulouse and arrived in Alicante around 9:15 p.m. local time, per FlightAware.

“Ryanair has a strict zero tolerance policy towards passenger misconduct and will continue to take decisive action to combat unruly passenger behaviour, ensuring that all passengers and crew travel in a respectful and stress-free environment, without unnecessary disruption,” a Ryanair spokesperson told the AP.

Neither a representative for the airline nor French police immediately responded to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

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