Anger after Lapland flight halted
(Taken From BBC News Online)
Passengers were left angry after a day trip to Lapland was cancelled because of technical problems with an aircraft.
Police were called to Cardiff International Airport on Sunday after a small number of passengers became "extremely aggressive" with staff.
An airport spokesman said a braking problem had been found by engineers.
Operator First Choice said the 179 passengers would be offered a full refund or an alternative trip, which they hoped would be before Christmas.
One passenger, Heidi Bennett, who was with her husband David and their six-year-old son Jacob, told BBC Radio Wales that children due to leave on the flight were left "very disappointed".
She said: "There were a lot of very, very upset children and some very upset parents too. There will all ages there, from four to teenagers."
Peter Phillips, head of marketing and communications at Cardiff International Airport, said the aircraft was one of three flights leaving for Rovaniemi airport, in northern Finland.
The captain identified a braking problem which was at first thought not to be important.
Engineers were called but the passengers were allowed to advance through to the boarding gate.
'Bad behaviour'
Mr Phillips said the engineers then found that the fault was more serious than first thought and the flight had to be cancelled He said: "The captain and flight crew came down in person to explain what the problem was.
"At this point a small number of passengers - three or four - became extremely aggressive with airport staff and airline personnel.
"Police were called and one woman was cautioned. The airport these days is no place to show temper or bad behaviour. "
A spokeswoman for First Choice said the option of using an alternative aircraft from Gatwick would have led to passengers losing a large part of their day trip. She said the cancelled flight had been rescheduled for next Saturday at 0700 GMT and customers would be informed of the schedule.