'Rowdy' Passenger Got Drunk On Plane, Causing Flight Diversion, Banned For Life

The Jet2 passenger who caused a flight from Belfast, Ireland, to Ibiza, Spain, to divert to Toulouse, France, on Friday, due to his disruptive behavior onboard has been banned for life from flying with the airlines.

The unidentified man in question was part of a bachelor party group and was behaving “quite rowdy” as he continued to consume alcohol. One of the female passengers onboard Jet2 Flight LS397 at the time told the BBC the “deplorable behavior” of the man go so out of hand the pilot had to intervene to get a grip on the situation.

"The captain introduced himself and gave a really stern warning and reiterated that only alcohol bought on board could be consumed on flight and duty free can't be consumed,” the woman, who was traveling with her partner and four-month-old infant on the flight, said.

Since the law clearly states, “No certificate holder (operating the plane) may serve any alcoholic beverage to any person aboard any of its aircraft who appears to be intoxicated,” the flight attendants refused to serve the man any more alcohol on the flight. That is when the man became “verbally abusive.”

After the disruptive man was removed from the flight at Toulouse, the pilot warned the rest of the members of the bachelor party that if the disruptive behavior continued, he would have no qualms about making an emergency stop at Barcelona to get rid of the passengers causing unnecessary trouble onboard.

Due to the diversion of the plane, all the passengers on the flight experienced a delay in reaching their destination. "Passengers couldn't get off the plane and it was roasting," the woman said. “All the babies and kids on the plane were so unsettled. Six hours in total when it should have been a three-hour flight."

Another unnamed passenger on the same flight as the disruptive man said he saw the latter holding a blow up doll, although this report is not confirmed. “Nice one guys! Together with a blow up doll at 7 a.m. in front of my kids and long queues. Way to go!"

"We will not under any circumstances tolerate this type of disgraceful behavior on board our aircraft," Phil Ward, managing director of Jet2, said in a statement. “Fellow customers and families travelling for a well-earned holiday should not be subjected to this sort of behavior and we sincerely apologize to all the other customers on that flight.”

"We will be taking further action in support of our crew to ensure [the passenger] is held accountable for his actions and indeed [he] has already received a lifetime ban from future Jet2 flights,” Ward added.

A spokesperson for Jet2 said in a statement: “It's very clear that consuming alcohol illicitly contributed to this behavior. In consultation with the captain we had to take the unusual decision to divert the aircraft as the situation on board escalated and he was taken off the aircraft with the assistance of the police in Toulouse."