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BERLIN - Two British women caused panic on a holiday flight from Greece when they attacked cabin staff with a vodka bottle and fought to open the emergency exit at 9000m, one screaming: "I want some fresh air!"
The drunken pair had to be wrestled to the ground and restrained with plastic handcuffs as astonished passengers looked on. The XL Airways Boeing 737 charter flight from the Greek island of Kos to Manchester, north-west England, was forced to make an emergency landing in Germany where heavily armed police hauled away the women, aged 26 and 27, to cheers from other travellers.
They had been on a package holiday. On the return flight both were refused more alcohol because they were drunk, prompting one to take a bottle of vodka from her hand luggage. Passengers screamed as the women fought with flight attendants. "It was a hell of a scene," said a holidaymaker. "It was a nightmare. The crew were brilliant, wrestling them to the ground and slapping plastic cuffs on them. We all thought we had had our chips."
As a safety precaution the pilot put out a Mayday alert and diverted to Frankfurt-Main, Germany's biggest airport. The plane continued to Manchester after two hours.
The 26-year-old is likely to face charges of interference in air traffic and attempted assault and the pair will probably face a bill of thousands of pounds from the airline for costs incurred during the landing. Both women have been allowed back to the UK.
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