Irish Plane Diverted After Fight Breaks Out On Board
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A flight between Ireland and Crete was diverted and five people removed by police after a fight broke out on board.
An eyewitness who was on the plane when it was forced to make an unscheduled landing in Venice last night said a man began smashing overhead compartments.
Aoife O'Reilly, one of the 167 passengers on the Futura Gael flight 2815 from Dublin to Heraklion, Crete, said those responsible had been drinking.
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"We were up in the air and two guys — who were surprisingly a lot older than us — started fights," she said.
"Then we had to be redirected to Venice for a couple of hours. The police came on and had to get them off.
"They had a couple of drinks on them, they were extremely aggressive. One of the guys half-way through the flight stood up and started smashing the overhead compartments."
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Italian border police based at Marco Polo airport in Venice said the men wereall Irish and aged between 25 and 30.
They were not arrested but put on a plane back to Ireland, the authorities said.
Dublin-based Futura Gael, which runs charter flights to holiday destinations, apologized to passengers who were delayed by several hours.
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"The incident occurred in Italian airspace at approximately 10 p.m. Irish time, where a number of passengers were involved in an incident on board," said a spokesman.
"The captain then made the decision, for the safety of all on board, to divert to Venice, where the aircraft was met by members of the Italian police.