Family removed from plane for mid-flight row before leaving son at Portugal airport
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Thomson flight, stock image. PA
A teenage boy was abandoned at an airport in Portugal after his family got into a row that became so heated during a flight to Lanzarote that the pilot diverted the flight and have them removed.
The Daily Mirror reports that David Laughton, 39, and his partner Sarah Wilson, 28, were taking his stepson Lee Doran, 17, on his first holiday abroad, along with his son Dylan, 14, and the couple's son Harry, three.
According to reports, Mr Laughton and his stepson got into a furious fight, and the pilot was forced to make an emergency landing in Porto to have them removed.
The Thomson flight from Newcastle to Lanzarote had been in the air for more than three hours when the pair started fighting in the aisle.
Holidaymakers were forced to wait as the whole family were marched off the plane by police officers. They were questioned at Porto airport and eventually released without charge.
The couple, from Hartlepool in Cleveland, spent the night in Porto before booking another flight to Lanzarote with the two younger children. They left Lee behind, who had to be rescued by foreign office officials.
The Mirror reports that the 17-year-old ended up outside the airport police station where he spent almost 24 hours without food or water.
After making a frantic phone call to his mum in London, he was taken in by embassy staff and his mum paid for his flight home.
His mother, Jannine, said she was 'in shock' about her son being abandoned.
"To leave Lee by himself in a foreign country is just appalling," she told the newspaper.
Speaking about the mid-air brawl, Mr Laughton told the Mirror: 'We were 50 minutes from landing and Lee pulled his hood up and I pulled it down.
Lanzarote, where the family are currently on holiday. Rex
"The next thing I knew, he had his arms around my neck and we ended up in the aisle.
"When we got to Porto he wouldn't take any money from me. Lee is 17 and lives on his own in London. This has been blown out of all proportion."
He apologised to his fellow airline passengers and added: "I understand this caused a great deal of upset, but we would not continue on the trip as was planned.
"I am sorry that the plane was diverted and I can understand why that action was taken."
The row started during the 2pm Thomson flight on September 13 as the family were heading for a two-week all-inclusive holiday.
A spokesman for the airline also apologised to passengers for any disruption encountered during the flight, saying:
"Unfortunately a party of passengers became disruptive on board and as a last resort the flight had to be diverted to Portugal.
"Upon landing, the aircraft was met by local police and the passengers were removed from the flight for further questioning.
"Thomson operates a zero tolerance policy with regards to any disruptive behaviour on board and incidents of this type are extremely rare."
The couple has been banned from the return flight and will have to make their own arrangements to get home.
The incident is estimated to have cost Thomson £35,000 and the airline may try to recoup some of the bill from Mr Laughton when he returns from his holiday next Thursday.
Mid-air meltdowns
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- Get that screaming child off my plane!<p> A toddler meltdown led to an entire family being kicked off a flight from Boston to the Caribbean in March 2012. Collette Vieau's two-year old daughter Natalie started crying and refused to sit in her seat. Although the family eventually managed to strap her in, the JetBlue pilot decided it was unsafe to fly with her on board and the family had to disembark. As there were no more flights that evening, the family had to pay $2,000 for hotel accommodation and to rebook their flights...</p>
- The father and son who came to blows<p> A Thomas Cook flight from Manchester to the Canary Islands had to do a U-turn after a passenger became so agressive that he had to be pinned down by five people. The 50-year-old man, who appeared to have been drinking, apparently got into a violent argument with an elderly passenger - believed to be his father - and began swinging wild punches, witnesses said. The plane landed and the unruly passenger was immediately arrested.</p>
- What, no champagne?<p> In January 2012, a Delta Airlines flight from Atlanta to Costa Rica had to be diverted because a couple from Germany reportedly refused to sit down unless they were given champagne. The pair, who were seated in first class, denied the incident, but Delta Airlines captain took the precaution of making a diversion to Florida, where they were removed from the flight.</p>
- The pilot who lost the plot<p> Even pilots have their moments, as we discovered from the JetBlue pilot who suffered a mid-air meltdown in March 2012 while in charge of a flight between New York and Las Vegas. Three hours into their flight, passengers were terrified when the heard him suddenly start banging doors and running around the aircraft yelling about terrorism, and screaming: 'We're all going down!". The pilot had to be wrestled to the floor by passengers and locked out of the cockpit, and an off-duty pilot who was on board helped the plane make an emergency landing. The Jetblue pilot was later found not guilty of interfering with a flight crew for reasons of insanity.</p>
- Why won't this door open?<p> In May 2011, terrified passengers on board an Easyjet plane had to overpower a British man who twice tried to open a cabin door mid-flight at 35,000ft between Krakow, Poland and Edinburgh. Witnesses said the the man lunged for the door handle but was quickly tackled by staff and fellow passengers as the aircraft's pilots were forced to land at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport. </p>
- The streaker who got a bum reaction<p> In 2010, a flight from Omsk to Vladivostok was grounded after one of the passengers started running around the plane naked. or one and a half hours passengers of today’s Omsk-Vladivostok flight had to watch a naked passenger. The young man suddenly he jumped off his seat, quickly took all his clothes off, and started shouting and darting around the cabin,” Siberian transport police representatives said. The man was also taken to a clinic upon landing.</p>
- The stir-crazy stewardess<p> It's not just passengers who go a bit mental when they're on a plane. Back in March, one airline stewardess appeared to completely lose the plot when she started screaming about 9-11 and how the plane was going to crash. American Airlines flight 2332 from Dallas was taxiing along the runway when the attendant suddenly started screaming hysterically. Terrified passengers had to pin her down and the plane returned to base, where police arrested her, still kicking and screaming.</p>
- Switch that *@@!£$ing light off!<p> In July 2012, a passenger on an Alaska Airlines flight faced legal charges after he exploded into an expletive-ridden tirade against a woman in front of him - because she wouldn't turn off her reading light. The 50-year-old man, who was on a flight from Honolulu to Bellingham International Airport in Washington, threatened to keep kicking the back of her chair is she didn't turn off the light.</p>
- Lap dance, anyone?<p> In August 2011, passengers travelling to London from Moscow on a bmi flight got more than they bargained for when a drunk female passenger started performing erotic dances in the aisles. The Airbus had to return to Domodedovo half an hour after take off when the woman started "harrassing" passengers. The woman was subsequently removed from the flight and taken to hospital for medical tests. The airline said it was considered fining her for the delay...</p>
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