Police arrest air passengers (From Barry And District News)

Police arrest air passengers

CARDIFF International Airport was the scene of a major drama after fighting passengers forced a jet to make an emergency landing.

The Astraeus 737 from Santiago, Spain, carrying 148 passengers en route to Glasgow, landed on the runway at approximately 3.15pm on Friday, December 13, after the pilot reported a disturbance on board.

The plane was grounded and in an operation that involved a 60 police officers, six passengers were arrested.

The four cabin crew on board were given paramedic attention. A female flight attendant had received slight injuries to her arm during the incident but no-one needed hospital treatment.

The six men, who are all from Glasgow and aged between 37 and 51, were taken to Barry police station where they were interviewed by officers. They have all now been released on bail pending further enquiries.

The other passengers, all Celtic football fans, were interviewed by police at the airport before arrangements were made to take those who were not involved back to their home airport.

Speaking at Cardiff International Airport just after the arrests, Supt Colin Jones said: "A number of officers met the plane on the runway and six passengers were arrested on public disorder charges. There is also a chance that they might face criminal damage charges at a later date.

"Obviously the other passengers and the attendants were frightened and severely traumatised by the incidents. As yet it is unclear what took place on board the plane, and officers are interviewing the passengers to try and determine the cause of the events that lead to the plane re-directing to Cardiff.

"Personally, I am aghast at this situation. The majority of people now travel by air. To have people behave in this manner is shocking."