In a dramatic incident on Friday, police boarded a Ryanair flight to remove three “drunk” passengers after their disruptive behaviour forced the plane to turn round mid-flight and return to Edinburgh. The incident occurred on flight FR5593, which was bound for Lanzarote.
The flight, which departed late from Edinburgh at 4:20pm, after being scheduled to leave at 2:15pm, had to make an abrupt U-turn when it was over South Ayrshire. Passengers reported that the three men began causing disturbances shortly after take-off.
One passenger said, “It was obvious before we left that one of them, who was next to me, was drunk. He stank of alcohol and was vaping without any qualms.”
After take-off, the situation escalated as the men started shouting and drinking from an almost empty bottle of vodka. An air stewardess confiscated the bottle and an e-cigarette from the unruly passengers. Despite efforts to manage the situation, the pilot decided to turn the plane back to Edinburgh for the safety and comfort of all other passengers on board.
Upon landing, police officers boarded the aircraft and asked the three men to identify their hand luggage before removing it from the overhead compartments. They were subsequently arrested, and the remaining passengers had to wait on the tarmac for around an hour before the flight could take off again.
The flight, initially scheduled to arrive in Lanzarote just before 7:00pm local time, eventually landed at 11:15 PM. Passengers expressed frustration at the delay and the lack of water during the wait on the tarmac.
A spokesperson from the Scottish Police confirmed the arrests, stating, “We were made aware of a disturbance on board a flight which had departed from Edinburgh Airport during the afternoon of Friday, 5th July. The aircraft returned to Edinburgh and three men, aged 22, 22 and 21, were arrested. One of the 22-year-olds and the 21-year-old were charged with a number of offences and will be reported to the Procurator Fiscal. The other 22-year-old was released without charge.”
Ryanair haven’t commented on the incident at this stage.
