When a middle-aged man swore at airline staff after he was refused a drink on a flight from Manchester to Tenerife, he got a sunshine break he had not bargained for. The pilot diverted the charter plane and dumped the troublesome holidaymaker 480km from his destination on a barren volcanic island off the west coast of Africa.
The 53-year-old man was confined to Porto Santo, a Portuguese-administered desert island, 14km long and about five kilometres wide, for 36 hours after local police questioned him over the air rage incident.
According to the airline, Monarch, the man appeared to be drunk and repeatedly insulted cabin crew and fellow holidaymakers shortly after the Airbus A321 left Manchester on Tuesday evening.
Understood to be an Irish citizen living in Lancashire, he ignored numerous appeals to calm down when he was refused further alcoholic drinks. As the plane reached its cruising height of 35 000ft, the captain decided to make an unscheduled stop and throw the man off the plane.
The man, who was travelling alone and had purchased a one-way ticket to Tenerife, was frogmarched off the plane by police at the airport on the ”golden isle”, which is part of the Madeira archipelago and was discovered by Portuguese explorers in 1419.
His luggage was removed from the hold and searched. While he was questioned, the captain gave a statement to police before taking off again with the remaining 211 passengers, arriving in Tenerife nearly four hours late.
”He wanted a drink,” said Gualter Gomez, a spokesman for the Madeira police. ”When he ordered a drink he was told ‘no’ and so he caused a fight.”
Gomez said the tourist, whom police and airline staff refused to name, was cooperative but was now being investigated over accusations of ”disruptive behaviour on an aeroplane”, an offence under Portuguese law which carries a maximum two-year prison sentence.
According to police, the new addition to the island’s population of just 5 000 people was not detained in a cell and was released to enjoy the island’s famed tranquillity for 36 hours.
While there is little vegetation on Porto Santo, home to Christopher Columbus before he set off to discover the Americas, the island boasts several luxury hotels and a golf course.
After his unscheduled break, during which he could have enjoyed local delicacies such as sweet table wine and octopus rice as well as the island’s eight kilometre sandy beach, he travelled to nearby Madeira on Thursday morning and boarded a flight for Tenerife, where he was understood to be staying on Thursday night.
A spokesperson for Monarch said the man had not been physically violent but the airline was considering launching legal action against him for disrupting the flight and causing an expensive unscheduled stop. The airline said the passenger would not be welcome on their aircraft again.
”He was verbally abusive to our cabin crew. They asked him repeatedly to tone down his language but he continued to be verbally aggressive towards the crew and passengers,” she said. A spokesperson added: ”Despite repeated attempts by Monarch scheduled staff to calm the individual, the passenger’s behaviour did not improve and the decision was taken to divert to Porto Santo. The action was taken in the interests of all the passengers. That sort of behaviour is not acceptable. He was given the chance to calm down and he declined it. He was given a form, a caution for his behaviour, and he refused to sign it.”
A British consular official in Madeira said she had spoken to the chief of police on the island about the incident but the holidaymaker had not requested any consular assistance. ”He is free to go. He is not being detained,” she said.
The Irish embassy in Lisbon said it had not handled any requests for help from the man.
According to Portuguese police, the man will have to report to Lancashire police as part of the conditions of his release. A Lancashire police spokeswoman said the force had not yet been contacted by Portuguese police. – Guardian Unlimited Â