The brawl, which was filmed mid-flight, ended with the arrest of two people upon arrival at Ibiza, according to a KLM spokesperson .
The incident happened on KLM flight 1495 last Friday 31 July when “Two unruly passengers refused to wear their face masks, and they were bothering their fellow passengers physically and verbally,” the spokesperson said.
Dutch media outlets have noted that the passengers involved had been drinking and neither of the two arrested were believed to have Dutch citizenship.The video of the incident shows many involved speaking in English.
“Stoppen nu, er zijn kinderen hiero!”Knokpartij op @klm vlucht naar Ibiza. Dronken passagier weigert mondkapje te dragen ✈️
— The Mic High Club Luchtvaart Podcast (@MicHighClub) August 2, 2020
Panic and violent brawl! Unruly passenger on board KLM flight,he refused to wear face mask 😷#incident #klm #avgeek #aviation #planespotting @KLM_press pic.twitter.com/RPM0g1Kqh9
Crew members and passengers worked together to stop the fight and restrain the two. At no point was the flight in peril, with the KLM spokesperson adding, "the pilot informed the local authorities and upon arrival, both passengers were arrested. The flight safety was not compromised during the flight."
The captain of the aircraft made the decision to continue on to the destination as the flight was already far away from its origin.
The two were turned over to Spanish police when the Boeing 737 landed on the island at about noon, nearly 2h30mins after departure.
Face masks are mandatory on KLM flights and at the country’s airports, due to difficulties in enforcing and maintaining a safe physical distance from people infected with Covid-19.
(With NLTimes)
