A 42-year-old British passenger allegedly became aggressive toward crew and fellow passengers on a flight bound for Heraklion, forcing the aircraft to make an unscheduled landing in Thessaloniki. He was arrested after the aircraft landed.
A flight from Newcastle to Heraklion took an unexpected detour to Thessaloniki on Sunday night after a passenger allegedly became so disruptive that the aircraft had to make an unscheduled landing.
The incident occurred at around 11:30 p.m., when a 42-year-old English passenger, reportedly visibly intoxicated, began causing a disturbance on board.
According to the authorities, the man behaved aggressively toward crew members and other passengers and failed to comply with cabin crew instructions.
At that point, the flight’s itinerary changed rather dramatically. Instead of continuing south toward Heraklion, the aircraft made an unscheduled landing at Macedonia Airport in Thessaloniki.
The passenger was arrested after landing. He is facing charges under Greece’s aviation legislation for dangerous interference with air transport, disobeying the captain’s orders, and disturbing the order on board an aircraft. He is expected to appear before the competent judicial authorities.
A very expensive way to change destinations
For everyone else on board, it was presumably an unwelcome addition to the itinerary. The passengers had booked a flight to Crete but arrived in Thessaloniki first.
The incident is another reminder of one of the less glamorous realities of air travel: once an aircraft is in the sky, disruptive behavior isn’t simply a matter of annoying the people sitting nearby. If a passenger becomes aggressive or refuses crew instructions, the consequences can affect an entire aircraft full of travelers.
In this case, one passenger’s night out apparently ended with an arrest and an unplanned visit to Thessaloniki. The other passengers just wanted to get to Crete, preferably without any more surprises.