A Ryanair flight was forced to divert mid-air after a drunk family argument erupted into violence, report says
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- A Ryanair flight to the Canary Islands was forced to divert mid-air after a brawl broke out.
- But the flight had to land in Portugal as two family members were "beating each other," police said.
- The two men were escorted off the flight before it continued on its journey.
A Ryanair flight was forced to divert mid-air on Friday after a family fallout erupted into violence, officials said.
The flight was en route from Edinburgh, Scotland, to the Canary Islands when two drunk members of the same family, both male, started "beating each other," police said, according to the Canarian Weekly and the Scottish Sun.
The violent argument forced the pilot to divert the plane mid-air and make an emergency landing in Faro, Portugal — which is around 900 miles away, police said.
Faro police were waiting for the plane when it landed and escorted the men off the aircraft, the report said.
"Following the orders of the commander, they were extracted from the plane at our airport and were identified by our police force to complete a police report," police said, according to the CanarianWeekly.
"It was not a major incident and did not cause any danger to the aircraft or its passengers," they added. The flight then continued its journey to the Canary Islands and landed one hour after the expected arrival time.
The men have not yet been identified. It is unclear what their argument was about, though police confirmed they were both members of the same family.
A spokesperson for Ryanair did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, but told the Canarian Weekly that the flight was diverted after "a small number of passengers became disruptive onboard."
"Crew called ahead for police assistance and the passengers were removed from the aircraft by local police before the flight continued safely to Gran Canaria," the statement said.
"We sincerely apologize to affected passengers for any inconvenience caused as a result of these passengers' disruptive behavior."