A passenger was marched off a Ryanair flight to Spain by police after "kicking off for no reason", with some claiming the man was drunk.
The flight, from Manchester Airport, diverted to Madrid after a number of off-duty Merseyside Police officers, who were on board the plane as passengers, were forced to intervene. Witnesses on board say cabin crew were forced to tannoy for assistance after the man "kicked off" at another passenger.
Ryanair said the plane continued on to Malaga from Madrid, but the incident led to an 80-minute delay for passengers. The airline apologised to all affected passengers for the delay, describing it as "beyond our control".
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Images sent to the Manchester Evening News from one passenger show the moment Spanish police officers boarded the cabin. A spokesman for Ryanair said the flight's captain called ahead to "request for Guardia Civil assistance" on arrival in Madrid and said the passenger was subsequently "removed from the plane".
The flight was the FR3232 10am Thursday jet from Manchester Airport to Malaga. One holidaymaker who witnessed the drama said: "It was a man who was drunk. He kicked off on another passenger for no apparent reason.
"Some off-duty Merseyside police officers on the flight by chance took him to the back of the plane - and then we got diverted. The off-duty police guys really helped the cabin crew, who did an announcement to ask for assistance. Everyone was pretty good natured in the end, but obviously not happy about a massive delay to their journey."
Ryanair said: "This flight from Manchester to Malaga diverted to Madrid after a passenger became disruptive during the flight. Crew called ahead to request for Guardia Civil assistance on arrival in Madrid. The aircraft landed normally and this passenger was removed from the plane.
"The flight continued to Malaga following a delay of 80 mins. Ryanair apologises to affected passengers for this delay which was beyond our control."
Guardia Civil were contacted for further comment but there was no response by the time of publication.
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