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The flight was headed to Liverpool, England, when it was forced to return to Tenerife airport in Spain on Tuesday, July 21
NEED TO KNOW
- A passenger flight was forced to turn back to an airport in Spain after a fight involving around 10 people broke out midair on Tuesday, July 21
- The easyJet plane was headed to Liverpool, England, before the pilot decided to return to the island of Tenerife
- Police met the plane upon landing, and the flight later resumed its journey to Liverpool
A midair brawl has forced a passenger flight to turn around shortly after takeoff.
The easyJet aircraft was headed to Liverpool, England, on Tuesday, July 21, when a group of around 10 passengers began “behaving disruptively,” the airline told PEOPLE in a statement.
The captain of the EZY3352 flight decided to return to the vacation island of Tenerife just 30 minutes after departure “due to the danger” that the incident “posed to the safety of the flight”, the air traffic controller said, per the BBC.
At the request of the flight crew, police attended to the 186-passenger jet when it landed at Tenerife South airport during the evening on Tuesday, July 21, the outlet reported.
“Our full support goes out to the crews and passengers who are increasingly having to endure these situations,” the air traffic controller said in a statement translated from its original Spanish, per the BBC.
After meeting with the police, the plane continued its journey to Liverpool, reported the BBC, The Independent and The London Evening Standard.
“Our cabin and ground crew are trained to assess all situations and to act quickly and appropriately to ensure that the safety of the flight and other customers is not compromised at any time,” an easyJet spokesperson told PEOPLE in a statement.
“We take these incidents very seriously and do not tolerate disruptive behavior towards our staff,” the spokesperson added. “The safety and wellbeing of customers and crew is always our highest priority.”
Back in May, PEOPLE reported that an easyJet flight from London to Antalya was diverted after a drunken man and woman started “behaving disruptively.”
A passenger told U.K. tabloid The Sun that the pair had been exhibiting “terrifying behavior” when the woman allegedly spat on a fellow passenger while the man allegedly threatened others around him.
PEOPLE has reached out to the National Spanish Police for comment.
Read the original article on People
