Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

‘It was disgusting’: Fight breaks out on Ryanair flight to Manchester

‘There were fists flying everywhere,’ says passenger

Helen Coffey
Wednesday 28 October 2020 13:43 GMT
Comments
Fight breaks out between passengers onboard Ryanair flight leaving staff helpless in the chaos

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A fight broke out on a recent Ryanair flight from Malaga, Spain, to Manchester.

Video taken onboard the 26 October service shows a woman being escorted down the plane aisle by a flight attendant, saying, “I’ll smash him up”, after appearing to hit an unseen passenger.

The footage cuts to a fight at the front of the aircraft, and two men can be seen running towards the fracas, while the original woman also gets involved and again looks like she is hitting another traveller.

“Jack, stop it – just come down here,” another woman can be heard shouting at one of the men.

The fight is broken up and the passengers return to their seats.

It’s followed by a video clip showing police escorting a man at the front of the plane off the aircraft.

It is unclear what prompted the altercation, which started just as the flight was preparing for landing back in the UK.

“It was disgusting, really,” said the passenger who filmed the incident.

“I'm not sure what happened but the woman in the black jumper started laying into this guy in a big way.

“It wasn't a light slap or anything, she was going at him hell for leather.

“Suddenly three or four people ran to the front and got involved - there were just fists flying everywhere!”

They added that some of the men were “really big guys” and alleged that cabin crew “completely lost control of the situation” at one point.

The woman in the video was instructed to sit behind the passenger who had filmed the clip at one stage, they claimed, and she told them that a male passenger had been threatening to kill her.

“The police came onboard and nobody could get off until they verified who was involved in the fight so we showed an officer our video footage so they could see who it was,” they said.

A spokesperson for Ryanair said: “The crew of this flight from Malaga to Manchester (26 October) requested police assistance upon arrival after several passengers became disruptive shortly before arrival. This is now a matter for local police.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in