A DRUNKEN holidaymaker was dumped on a remote island after he launched a foul-mouthed tirade at the crew of a passenger jet.
The man, who had been drinking heavily, became so rude to cabin staff and passengers that the pilot diverted the four-hour flight from Manchester to Tenerife to make an unscheduled stop on Porto Santo, a tiny Atlantic island off the west coast of Africa just ten miles long by three-miles wide
When the Monarch Airlines Airbus A321 touched down, police frog-marched the ranting man off the aircraft.
It was unclear whether he was then charged or released.
However, it is understood the man is still a castaway on the Portuguese-controlled island, which is a two-hour ferry ride from the holiday island of Madeira.
Appeals
Trouble started when the passenger started shouting at crew and passengers shortly after the flight left Manchester.
The crew made numerous appeals for him to calm down as the plane cruised at 35,000 feet, but when he refused the captain decided to land and throw the man off.
He radioed ahead to sleepy Porto Santo airport to warn them of the unscheduled landing.
After the passenger was taken off and his luggage removed from the hold, the remaining 211 passengers on flight ZB558 took off again.
Late
The aircraft eventually arrived in
Bosses at Monarch, the Manchester-based Italian-owned airline, said they would not tolerate abusive behaviour.
A Monarch spokesman said: "Monarch Scheduled flight ZB558, operating on an Airbus A321 departing Manchester at 1615 and arriving at Tenerife at 1910, was forced to divert to Porto Santo after a passenger became disruptive and abusive towards staff onboard.
"Despite repeated attempts by Monarch scheduled staff to calm the individual, the passenger's behaviour did not improve and the decision was taken to divert to Porto Santo.
Caution
"The action was taken in the interests of all the passengers. That sort of behaviour is not acceptable.
"He was the given the chance to calm down and he declined it. He was given a form, a caution for his behaviour, and he refused to sign it."
The spokesman added that the passenger, who he "believed to be drunk", would not be welcome to return to Manchester on a Monarch flight, although it is understood the man had only purchased a one-way ticket.
Comments
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The pilot's actions were fair enough but shouldn't the airline accept some responsibility for serving him alcohol until he got into such a drunken state ? He must have become drunk on the plane because they wouldn't have let him fly if he were that drunk before boarding. It's time the airlines took some responsibility instead of counting their profits through sales on the flights.
Just a shame that the other passengers had to suffer as a result. Perhaps they could have delivered him by parachute. That would have sobered him up.
If only we could do this with the abusive and drunken idiots who ruin nights out!
Good on Monarch for not taking any rubbish from the idiot.
Well said Ray.
Even better, why not deliver him without a parachute!
I've been on a Monarch Airbus A321 - they are good
I think aeroplanes should be fitted with some sort of brig, where passengers like this guy can be thrown for the duration of the flight.....in an area where it's only just warm enough to prevent them from suffering hypothermia! Perhaps somewhere in the baggage hold could be adapted?
Ms D - According to the report the man started being abusive "shortly after the flight left Manchester" so there was clearly insufficient time for the crew to have plied him with booze. I wish people would stop trying to shift the blame for this sort of behaviour away from the perpetrators. I would let this moron rot where he is.
YEAH MORE OR LESS AGREE WITH EVERYTHING WHICH HAS BEEN WRITTEN ON THIS SUBJECT ,BUT AS AN ADDED SAFEGUARD FOR ALL CONCERNED,PASSENGERS AND CREW ALIKE ,MAY I SUGGEST ALL ,AND I MEAN ALL BE BRETHYLISED BEFORE BEING ALLOWED TO BOARD ,OFF COURSE THE CIVEL LIBERTYS BRIGADE WILL SCREAM LONG AND HARD BUT TO BE QUITE CANDID I ALONG WITH 99%OF SENSIBLE TRAVELLERS COULD NOT GIVE A MONKEYS .
I hope that Monarch and perhaps the passengers who were financially inconvenienced by the 4-hour delay should consider recovery of their money from this dead-head. Surely that would make him think twice before doing it again.
I enjoyed this article.
It reminded me of the time i was traveling from shoreham to Manchester by coach and the driver told everyone to use the bath room before we left.
Anyway two men who had to go ten minutes after we left and he let them out to go then left them on the side of the road.Very funny.Made my day.
if i had been a passenger on that plane i would have knocked him out cold then tied him to his chair till we landed!!!
To try to shift the blame on the airline for supplying booze is complete nonsense because not everyone who gets drunk is abusive. To me he sounds like the kind of moron who should be marooned on an island and left to rot. Lets hope that the airline hit him with the full cost of the extra landing, that is landing fees (several thousand pounds), fuel for getting back up to cruising altitude (again thousands of pounds) and knock on delays to other flights (thousands of pounds). Make an example of him so that others are detered from such stupidity and we dont have to put up with people like him every day
The pilot's actions are correct. But how did this guy get on the plane. The airport staff should have identified the problem.
Alf, I never tried to shift the blame from the idiot drunk to the airline and I did say I thought the pilot's actions were fair BUT a person can drink a lot in a very short space of time and get drunk. I would want to know how he got on the plane in the first place if he had too much to drink and why they served him alcohol during the flight. This thing happens too much in my opinion and the airlines must be more careful when serving alochol. In an ideal world, yes, it's the individual's responsibility on how much they drink and behave but we know some individuals cannot be trusted just like this passenger.
A great big pat on the back to the captain and monarch airlines. This should happen to everyone who gets drunk and then becomes abusive to crew and pasengers alike.Drunken passengers only belittle themselves and embarass all around them. A NICE BIG PAY RISE TO THE CAPTAIN. AND ANY DRUNKEN PASSENGERS IN FUTURE HAD BETTER BE GOOD SWIMMERS.
beautiful..... but why land......................surely it would be more cost effective to throw him out the window over the atlantic without making any kind of diversion.
I think the pilot should be applauded. Not only is it the pilot's responsibility to safely get his passengers to their destination, but there is also a responsibility to the staff and crew of the aircraft.
I certainly hope that people will reconsider the amount of alcohol they consume prior to and while in flight - even those who are not abusive can be terribly frustrating when they become loud and boisterous, disturbing other passengers.
I hope this man learned a lesson, although people like him rarely ever do.
The airline seems to have done a great job in dealing with social ass. Too bad they had to actually land to dump the jerk on the island. Maybe dumping him with a low fly-by along the beach would have been more in order.
This is typical of anti social behaviour the general public have to put up with when using public transport. It's time that people started to think of other people around them when using public transport before making a moron of themselves. As for drunken behaviour individuals must know what they turn in to when drunk: so why do it? It is not very nice to be around a person who is drunk and aggressive especially when you have children and are in confined space at 35000 ft.
If I was Monarch I would sue him for the additional costs, which would probably bankrupt him and stop him drinking.
being a british citezen i pressume i would deal with him on his return,and lock him up for the fright he must have given his fellow passengers not to mention all of the costs.
Oh! What a suprise, another fine example of British society today. A drunken, foul-mouthed yob wanting to gain attention and a bunch of whinging Brits, complaining about various issues. You can't blame the airline or the guy himself, because he's probably been born into a family with exactly the same disrespectful attitude as himself and has grown up in a society of anti-social, money-orientated, pre-packaged food eating, uncultured, drunks.
What does almost every Brit want to do on a Fri or Sat night? What does almost every Brit do on holiday? How many Brits actually make the effort to speak another language, or learn about another culture? The country has become the sess pit of Europe!
well done Imanol (monarch cabin crew) who threw this idiot off the flight!
we shouldnt have to put up with this type of behaviour on a flight!
What I don't understand is why we have to have alcohol on planes at all. Surely people can go without for the duration of the flight. There's plenty of time after landing to get legless. All I can say is well done to the airline involved for taking some direct action and getting rid of the fool.
I blame the bar in the departure lounge. The staff, in particular the manager, should have forewarned the airline of potentially disruptive passengers. They had the chance to prevent this incident and chose to ignore it in favour of making profit for their business. They ought to be ashamed.
First of all, well done Monarch Scheduled! As a frequent flier of this airline, I know that they are highly reputable and this example demonstrates they were in control of what was a difficult situation. Diverting the aircraft, inconveniencing hundreds of passengers and causing a large bill wasn't neccessarily the ideal option but one that makes an example of this passenger, and hopefully will make others think of their actions onboard an aircraft. Secondly, as an employee at Manchester Airport (not for Monarch or its handling agent), i would like to point out that monitoring drunken passengers isn't as easy as it sounds. Unless it is clear that the passenger is intoxicated prior to boarding ie - causing offence or showing an inability to walk etc - then there is nothing that can be done to stop that passenger from travelling. The crew have the same problem when it comes to serving alcohol. In this day and age, airport/airline workers have enough to deal with due to the ongoing threat to terrorism and do their jobs inpeccably to insure that hundreds of flights every day depart safely and on time. For anyone to blame Monarch staff or their Manchester handling agent is not acceptable. We simply cannot monitor the individual actions of every single passenger we deal with. People have to be responsible for their own actions. This passenger got what he deserved and Monarch handled the situation superbly. Well done!