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2 Royal Air Force fighter jets were scrambled to escort a British passenger plane home after an 'extremely disruptive' customer tried to open the door mid-flight

Bill Bostock,Bill Bostock   

2 Royal Air Force fighter jets were scrambled to escort a British passenger plane home after an 'extremely disruptive' customer tried to open the door mid-flight
IndiaTransportation3 min read

raf typhoons

Sgt Paul Oldfield/MOD

Two Typhoon FGR4 aircraft, flown by 29 Squadron from RAF Coningsby.

  • Two British fighter jets were scrambled to guide a plane back to the ground on Saturday after it was compromised by an "extremely disruptive passenger."
  • Flight LS1503 from London Stansted to Dalaman Airport, Turkey, turned back around 20 minutes after take-off when a female passenger tried to open the doors in mid-air, budget airline Jet2 said.
  • Jet2 told Business Insider the woman's behavior was "appalling and dangerous."
  • The RAF confirmed it scrambled two of their $100 million (£80 million) Typhoon jets from RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire to escort the Airbus A321 back to Stansted.
  • The 25-year-old woman was arrested by Essex Police "on suspicion of common assault, criminal damage and endangering an aircraft."
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

A pair of Royal Air Force Typhoon jets were scrambled to escort a budget airline flight heading from London to Turkey back to British soil on Saturday because of an "extremely disruptive passenger."

Flight LS1503, which was flying from London's Stansted airport to Dalaman in Turkey, turned back 20 minutes after taking off at 5:52 p.m. (12:52 p.m. ET) when a female passenger tried to open the aircraft doors in mid-air, Jet2 told Business Insider in a statement.

Jet2 said their Airbus A321 had "returned to base because of this appalling and dangerous behaviour."

9 Jet2 exterior

TripAdvisor

One of Jet2's A321 aircraft.

A Ministry of Defense spokeswoman told Business Insider: "We can confirm that RAF quick reaction alert Typhoon aircraft from RAF Coningsby scrambled to escort a commercial flight into Stansted shortly after take-off due to reports of a disruptive passenger."

Essex Police tweeted on Monday to say they had arrested a 25-year-old woman "on suspicion of common assault, criminal damage and endangering an aircraft."

Read more: One of Europe's flagship airlines is working on a fuel-efficient, V-shaped plane that seats passengers in its wings

She has been released on bail until July 30, they added.

FILE PHOTO: Jet2.com aircraft boarding steps are stored at Stansted airport in Britain, June 30, 2017.  REUTERS/Russell Boyce/File Photo

Thomson Reuters

Jet2.com aircraft boarding steps at Stansted airport in Britain.

Several passengers onboard Saturday's flight told The Sun newspaper about the scene inside the plane.

One said: "This lady who was clearly intoxicated gets called to the front of the plane and she starts shouting and screaming and runs to the plane door."

"The cabin crew grabbed her to stop her and then she starts scratching them and hitting them."

Read more: A woman fell asleep on an Air Canada flight and woke up in the pitch black, entirely alone, locked in the plane

"She then got pinned to the floor by cabin crew and passengers and a passenger even sat on her."

Another passenger told The Sun: "The stewards gave her several chances and did the best they could before she became abusive and then made a dash for the cockpit and had to be restrained by staff and passengers.

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