Video Shows Woman Attacking Passengers After Being Banned From Airline

An incident that spurred an apparent brawl on a Thursday Ryanair flight from England to Spain reportedly continued long after the flight had landed. The carrier said it banned a passenger for life following the initial incident, but a scorned and allegedly intoxicated woman took the fight to baggage claim.

The woman, who was not identified, was reportedly met by police after exiting the flight, British newspaper Metro reported Tuesday. However a witness, 35-year-old Rachel Burns of Newcastle Upon Tyne, said that authorities at the airport “let [the woman] go” shortly thereafter. Burns said the woman made her way to baggage claim where other passengers were waiting and “that’s when the violence started.”

Video of the scuffle at Alicante Airport in Newcastle shows two women — one in a yellow top and the other in a green top — engaged in a physical altercation, with the woman in a green top straddling the other. The woman in yellow can be seen hitting other passengers in the video of the previous incident.

“I saw her just go up to a lady who had been one of the people telling her to sit down. Then they were going at it on the floor,” Burns told Metro. “It went on for a couple of minutes. She just seemed intoxicated. She was very, very drunk. Some man tried to pull her off, then she started again.”

Burns noted that the woman appeared “very, very drunk.” At one point a man attempted to intervene and pulled the woman off, but then she began getting physical again.

“It was an absolute shambles, the security was shocking. She just left. She was with two friends, they seemed mortified and were crying. Then we left, we just needed to get the children away from it,” Burns added. “It’s shocking that she’d even been able to get on the plane in the first place, let alone get to that point in the airport.”

The incident follows an initial report of the altercation aboard the flight between the woman in the yellow and several other passengers during which both men and women were seen throwing punches. The brawl occurred shortly before the plane touched down in Alicante.

“It was just as we were about to land when the woman started kicking off,” witness Lucy Norris, 30, of Blyth, Northumberland, told the Chronicle Live. “She was shouting, screaming and making a show of herself. She had been rude to a few people on the flight and I think she was mortal drunk.”

Burns said the woman sat two rows behind her and became “aggressive” with other passengers on the flight. Burns said the woman asked other passengers, “What you looking at?”

“Then she started fighting with the man in front, and started getting aggressive with the lady asking her to move. The plane staff couldn’t control her,” Burns told Metro. “The people she was attacking got moved to the front of the plane.”

The airline addressed the incident last week in a statement.

“The crew of this flight from Newcastle to Alicante requested police assistance upon arrival after a passenger became disruptive inflight. The aircraft landed normally and the passenger was met by police,” the airline said.

“We will not tolerate unruly or disruptive behaviour at any time and the safety and comfort of our customers, crew and aircraft is our number one priority,” the airline added. “This passenger has been banned from flying with Ryanair and this is now a matter for local police.”