Thomson Air Passenger Throws Leg, Drunkenly Fights With Cabin Crew
A Thomson air passenger threw her leg at the flight crew while drunkenly swearing at them at about 10 p.m. Wednesday night. Flight 297 had been going from Enfidha, Tunisia to Edinburgh in Scotland when the woman became disruptive, leading to an emergency landing and her arrest.
The Thomson air passenger who threw her prosthetic leg was identified as a 48-year-old unemployed woman, according to the Edinburgh Evening News. She unleashed a plethora of curses on crew and other passengers, threw food, slapped a child and even started a fight with her own plastic leg before the pilot could land the plane.
"She was shouting 'I want cigarettes' and that she wanted a parachute to jump off the plane," eyewitness John Smith explained. "She slapped a young girl and then assaulted the cabin crew with her prosthetic leg. They took it off her, but she started kicking them with her good leg."
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"It sounds funny," he admitted, "but it was not a laughing matter at the time. It was serious. She was totally drunk. It was pretty shocking."
Fortunately, the pilot was able to divert the flight to Gatwick Airport, where police arrested the woman at the North Terminal at 10:22 p.m. local time and took her to Crawley police station. Though passengers were supposed to reach Edinburgh by 11:30 p.m., they didn't arrive until 2:30 a.m. Thursday morning.
Thomson Airways released a statement assuring passengers that drunken passengers getting into fights onboard is far from the norm.
"Unfortunately a passenger became disruptive on board and as a last resort the captain decided to divert the flight to Gatwick. Upon landing, the aircraft was met by local police and the passenger was removed for questioning," they stated. "We would like to reassure customers that their safety is our priority at all times. Thomson Airways operates a zero tolerance policy with regards to any disruptive behaviour on board and incidents of this type are extremely rare."
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