It will be interesting to see the charges and court case that follow all of this. I suspect there will be none.
Riot claim used to justify faulty plane risk, say fans
By Neil Mackay, Home Affairs Editor
The Celtic fans on board the flight from Spain which made an emergency landing in Cardiff after its pilot made a mayday distress call are intending to sue the airline Astraeus over its claims that rioting occurred on the plane.
The pilot and cabin crew on board flight AEU308, which was taking the group of mostly professional, middle-class fans back to Glasgow from Santiago de Compostela, say a stewardess was attacked after complaining about a passenger smoking in the plane's toilet. As a result, the Boeing 737 and its 150 passengers were diverted to Cardiff as the pilot issued the emergency call. RAF helicopters were scrambled and the plane was greeted by armed police backed up by teams of firefighters and paramedics.
Six passengers were arrested for public order offences and after several hours of interviews the rest were bussed to Scotland. All six have now been released on bail pending further inquiries. At first it looked like another bad day for Scottish football with Celtic fans fighting mid-air. But does the Astraeus version of events stand up to scrutiny? The fans say no.
While they admit they were 'boisterous and noisy', they also insist that there was absolutely no violence and no aggression shown to the crew. In an attempt to understand why they were diverted, the fans have come up with a few conspiracy theories themselves. Chief among these is the claim that the plane was suffering from a mechanical fault and Astraeus used fans' rowdy behaviour as an excuse to set the plane down early.
Pat Coogan, a 50-year-old council official and grandfather who was sitting at the front of the flight, said: 'There were problems on take-off on Thursday morning before we left.
'The same thing happened on the Friday when we were flying back. We were on board and then they disembarked us ... We got back on board about two hours later and the pilot told us the engines had been tested.
'We were a bunch of football fans so there was obviously some singing and a bit of crack, but nothing threatening. The pilot made an announcement that someone had been smoking in the toilet. He said it was dangerous and illegal and that the police would be waiting for us in Glasgow.
' A few minutes later there was an announcement that the cabin crew should take up their positions for landing.
'There was a sudden dip and the plane plummeted. The lady opposite me was having a panic attack and praying .
'I was terrified. We'd already had two delays over the engines and now we were plummeting out of the sky. We thought the plane was in trouble. We were scared out of our wits.
'There was no riot. People were having a laugh and a joke. I saw no-one standing up. I saw no-one fighting. I saw no damage to the plane. I was told that when a stewardess was speaking at the back of the plane to passengers about smoking in the toilet, someone tapped her on the shoulder to ask her a question. Is that what they're interpreting as an assault?
'What they are saying about a riot is a piece of nonsense.
'When paramedics came on board in Cardiff they asked where the
casualties were and were shocked that no-one was injured. The only riot that took place was in the imagination of the crew.'
One passenger did have to be taken off because they suffered a panic attack due to the tense landing.
'This was a total farce and the crew made a mountain out of a molehill. It certainly crossed my mind that using a riot might be a way of getting around landing with engine problems.'
David McKenna, a 40-year-old architect from Glasgow who was sitting at the back of the plane, said: 'When we heard someone had been smoking we all agreed it was wrong . We were told that if the culprit didn't own up that we'd be kept on the plane in Glasgow until police spoke to us.
'A Glasgow lawyer then called over a stewardess and told her she
couldn't keep innocent people on a plane and there was a bit of
finger-waving. The guy was just making it clear he knew his rights. She seemed to take umbrage at this and ran like a crazy woman to the back of the plane in tears. I was astonished.
'She called the pilot and said she'd been assaulted -- but she hadn't been. That's when we veered off course and nose-dived thousands of feet. We were all frantic.
'No-one was drinking on this flight and only a handful of people had one or two beers before they boarded. More than 140 people don't all tell the same lie -- and everyone on board, apart from the crew, say there was no disturbance.
' We have to set the record straight. People will see us as hooligans and it will do Celtic damage unless we make it clear we did nothing wrong. We're planning a group action against Astraeus for distress and negligence.'
Harry Hynds, the travel agent who arranged the trip, backed up the fans and attacked Astraeus, saying: 'Everyone who was on that plane knows what really happened and it is nothing like what is being portrayed by the airline.'
Iain Macauley, a spokesman for Gatwick-based Astraeus, defended the firm, saying a 'passenger objected to being asked to extinguish his cigarette' by a cabin crew member.
He said that after an announcement from the captain stating such
behaviour would not be tolerated 'a number of passengers at the rear objected strongly and loudly '.
Macauley added: 'In the ensuing fracas the cabin crew member was struck on the arm.' He said she did not require hospital treatment and claimed that despite alcohol being banned some drinks containers were found later.
Macauley also said that a 'warning indicator relating to the starting procedure of one engine delayed departure'.
Superintendent Colin Jones of South Wales police, which dealt with the incident, said it was 'somewhat unusual' that the pilot made a mayday call.