A flight from Mallorca has been forced to divert to France after a British couple became involved in a heated argument on the plane in which the man was arrested and the woman assaulted in mid-air.
Majorcan rugby club Pontent de Palma were forced to make an emergency landing in Nantes, France, while flying back home from a training camp in Dublin on Saturday after the shouting match broke out.
The group of teenagers, aged between 14 and 15, were on board the Aer Lingus flight with their parents and other passengers as the plane flew over Nantes.
But the argument continued to escalate, forcing the cabin crew to intervene in an attempt to break up the fight.
When their efforts to calm and control the situation failed, the couple continued to fight until an alleged physical assault occurred.
An Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Mallorca was forced to land in France after an argument between a British couple spiraled out of control
The man was arrested as soon as the plane landed in Nantes, and the woman was taken off the plane by medics and police so that she could be treated for her injuries.
Passengers quickly realised something had happened on board after seeing the woman walking down the centre aisle of the plane, surrounded by flight attendants and with her face covered.
The pilot was informed of the incident and after reporting it to the control tower, he was ordered to make an unscheduled emergency landing at Nantes airport.
When the plane landed, the alleged male attacker was arrested for domestic violence and causing injury, according to Last minute.
Several officers flooded the cockpit to detain the man, while the woman was taken off the plane by police and medics to be treated for her facial injuries.
The flight resumed a few hours later without further incident, local media reported.
Aer Lingus has been contacted for comment.
An EasyJet plane bound for London had to return to Faro and make an emergency landing hours after a co-pilot of the budget airline collapsed en route to Lisbon.
The plane with 161 passengers on board is believed to have struck a bird shortly after takeoff on Saturday afternoon.
The incident is believed to have triggered a “code red” alert at Algarve airport and emergency response vehicles were mobilised, although the plane landed safely.
It reportedly spent 25 minutes burning fuel over the ocean before landing.
The incident occurred hours after a co-pilot on an EasyJet plane flying from London to Lisbon with 193 passengers on board collapsed and had to be taken to hospital upon arrival.
It was not immediately clear which airport the plane had departed from, although it was believed to be London Luton.
According to local reports, the pilot landed the plane safely and his colleague was treated by paramedics on the runway before being transferred to Lisbon’s Santa Maria Hospital.
Speaking about the pilot’s alleged fainting, retired Portuguese pilot José Correia Guedes told X: ‘Cases of incapacitation are a plague of modern times.
‘In 37 years of TAP’s activity, I have only known of one case. Today, it is rare for a week to go by without an aircraft making an emergency landing for this reason.
A Ryanair plane had to make an emergency landing at Faro airport last December after the pilot fell ill.
The plane was heading from London Stansted to Morocco.
