donnlass

June 01, 2012

A reveller jetting out to a stag party in Majorca tried to set his friend’s hair on fire at 30,000ft – forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing.

The 24-year-old passenger was arrested on suspicion of endangering an aircraft after the drama on the packed jet.

The plane had taken off from Manchester Airport and was flying over France on the way to the Majorcan capital, Palma. The cabin crew smelled smoke and alerted the captain, who turned back to land at Gatwick.

Police were alerted and boarded the aircraft after it touched down. The man was taken into custody for questioning. It is understood that both the arrested man and the victim were members of a stag party heading to the island.

Other passengers told police they believed the incident had been an ill-advised prank.

Police said nobody was injured. A spokesman for Monarch Airlines said: “Flight ZB532, flying from Manchester to Majorca on May 31, diverted to London Gatwick where one passenger was offloaded from the aircraft.

“Due to an incident onboard, the decision was taken, in the interests of passenger safety, to divert to London Gatwick so that the passenger could be offloaded.

Monarch has a zero-tolerance approach to disruptive passengers on board. Flight ZB532 landed in London Gatwick at 9.08am where the aircraft was met by Sussex Police.

The flight, operating on an Airbus A321 aircraft with 212 passengers on board, then continued on to Majorca, departing from Gatwick at 10.20am.”

A spokesman for Sussex Police said: “The aircraft was diverted to Gatwick and landed shortly after 9am when smoke was detected on board. The smoke came from a passenger whose hair had been singed by another passenger that he was travelling with. A 24-year-old man from Widnes, Cheshire, was arrested on suspicion of endangering an aircraft. He remains in custody.”

Read more at:

Flight from Manchester diverted after stag party reveller sets fire to pal's hair | Manchester Evening News - menmedia.co.uk

Shell Management

There is a charge that should be applied more ofton to people who really do endanger aircraft, air trafficers, pilots, engineers, ramp personnel etc

Torque Tonight

With friends like that....

crippen

What with,I ask myself??? Matches? Lighter?

Sounds like a bit of lax security issue at least.

Tableview

They should have landed in France, where he would have been treated far more appropriately than in the UK where he will probably get a £10 fine and a 3 month suspended sentence - and counselling!

partyboy_uk

FYI, safety matches and certain types of lighters are allowed on board an aircraft if kept in the possession of the person carrying it.

Shack37

Find it hard to believe but would be interested to know what types of lighters are permitted on board and why, if smoking is not allowed and probably not in the airport either.

Tableview

I wondered about this too.

BAA say :

PAXboy

Let's hope that Monarch take him to court for the cost of the diversion.

partyboy_uk

Lighters are in fact sold on many airlines and are considered safer if carried on one's person than in the aircraft hold where they could be accidentally ignited.

avturboy

I know a passenger on this flight, to say she was a nervous passenger before this incident would have been an undestatement, now she is a complete bag of nerves and spending her holiday worrying about the return flight. How will the stupid responsible for this be made to pay?

Shocking and stupid don't come close to describing this, but what else do you expect when the pax are loading up in the bar before they even get on the aircraft ... we need to see examples of people prevented from boarding to stop this crappy behaviour finding its way on to the aircraft ...

jubilee

I did post in the Monarch thread at the time, but to repeat some of it with a up date.

My brother was on this flight,the flight had just crossed the English cost when it diverted to Gatwick (see playback on flight radar 24). After landing at Gatwick,
the police came on board and removed the accused person. His friends were spoken to but allowed to remain on the flight.

A coded message was announced over the p.a. system, to alert the crew of the nature of the emergency.

The person removed from the flight has been charged with endangering an aircraft,(which I believe carries a maximum term of 5 years in jail), and will appear in court
on June 15.
Lets hope the full force of the law is shown.

PAXboy

Questions that (hopefully) were asked in the immediate aftermath:

• Was the pax drunk? Take blood tests for alchohol and drugs
• Was pax seen to be misbehaving before boarding? Check CCTV
• IF the pax was seen to be the worse for wear, then did ground staff 'pass the buck'? Perhaps the pax showed no signs of idiocy before.

mansp

unfortunatly in MAN, CCTV is only in certain areas and it is not recorded. yes...........i know.....................