A Qatar airways flight was forced to make an unscheduled landing at Manchester Airport Thursday morning because of a ‘disruptive passenger’ on board who was drunk and had to be restrained by staff.
The New York to Doha flight had already completed about half of its journey but was delayed after being forced to land and sat on the tarmac for two hours,
Police arrested the man when the aircraft landed at Manchester Airport Thursday morning.
The flight made the unscheduled landing at about 9am and was sat on the runway for more than two hours before it took off again at about 11am. Police met the Boeing 777 on the tarmac and a man was removed from the plane and arrested.
Officers said he had been restrained on the plane by staff after becoming drunk and rowdy during the long-haul flight. The suspect was arrested and taken away for questioning by Greater Manchester Police.
A spokesman for the airport said: ‘There is a disruptive passenger on board this flight and because of this the plane is making a stop at Manchester.
‘As well as handling agents Greater Manchester Police will also be there to meet the plane before it sets off again.’
The spokesman said pilots of the QR702 flight had not declared an emergency but had said they needed to land.
The plane took off from New York at around 9.45pm local time Wednesday night New Years Eve (around 2.45am BST) and was due to land in Doha at around 5pm (2pm BST) – but was significantly delayed.
Passengers on board had already completed more than half of their 13 hour journey.
