A flight from Edinburgh to Larnaca was forced to return to Scotland around 30 minutes after take-off following an incident involving a passenger, with a 32-year-old man arrested and charged with several offences.
According to the Daily Record, the flight had departed Edinburgh Airport for Cyprus when a passenger allegedly caused a disturbance, prompting the aircraft to turn around and return to its departure airport.
Flight-tracking data from Flightradar24 confirmed that the 23 September flight from Edinburgh to Larnaca was diverted and returned to Edinburgh.
Police board aircraft after landing
Emergency services were waiting when the aircraft landed, while several police officers subsequently boarded the plane and removed the man, according to the report.
A passenger described what happened on board to the Daily Record.
“We had only been in the air for about half an hour when the man started causing trouble. The cabin crew were being verbally abused. Eventually, we made a very rough landing back in Edinburgh,” the passenger said.
32-year-old charged
Police Scotland confirmed that it received a report concerning an “unruly passenger” at around 4.30pm on Wednesday, 23 September.
“Police received a report of an ‘unruly passenger’ on a flight which had departed Edinburgh Airport,” Police Scotland said.
“The flight returned to the airport and a 32-year-old man was arrested and charged in connection with various offences, including assault and endangering an aircraft.”
The 32-year-old is expected to appear before a court in Edinburgh on Thursday, 24 September.
Police have also appealed to anyone with video footage that could assist the investigation to contact the authorities.
Airline apologises to passengers and crew
The airline apologised to passengers and crew affected by the incident and reiterated that it operates a zero-tolerance policy towards disruptive passenger behaviour.
“As a family-friendly airline, we operate a zero-tolerance policy towards disruptive passenger behaviour and strongly condemn any behaviour of this nature,” a spokesperson said.
“We will not hesitate to take appropriate action against disruptive passengers, including through the courts where necessary, and we will seek to recover the costs arising from their behaviour.”
The spokesperson added: “We would like to apologise to all our customers and colleagues who were on board the aircraft and had to experience this incident.”
