Disruptive passenger forces Ryanair emergency landing

A Ryanair flight on route from Greece to Cyprus was forced to make an emergency landing in Athens last night after a passenger claiming to be an airline mechanic tried to enter the cockpit.

The incident occurred shortly after the plane departed at 10pm on a scheduled flight from the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki to Paphos.

Some 20 minutes into the two-hour journey a middle-aged male passenger left his seat, made his way to the cockpit and, banging on the door and shouting that he was the aircraft’s mechanic, demanded that the pilots let him in.

Speaking to Cyprus’s state radio this morning, the island’s minister for communications and works, Marios Demetriades, said that the man was immobilised following the intervention of crew members and other passengers.

Six or seven passengers intervened and used baby seat belts to tie up the man, Cyprus's Politis newspaper reported. There were 168 passengers on board the flight.

A spokesman for the Greek police said the man, who is a Cypriot national, was arrested at Athens airport and was taken to a hospital for treatment to wounds he received during the in-flight scuffle.

“It appears he had some psychiatric problems,” the police spokesman said, adding that the man is now in a psychiatric clinic.

He confirmed that the man was an airline mechanic but was not employed by Ryanair. “He worked for a company that had some kind of cooperation with Ryanair.”

A Cypriot news site has published a photograph that appears to show bloodstains on the floor of the aisle of the aircraft.

Passengers from the flight were accommodated in Athens and are due to continue their journey to Cyprus today.

A Ryanair spokesman said: “Our flight from Thessaloniki to Paphos diverted into Athens after a passenger became disruptive in-flight. On arrival, police removed (and detained) this individual. We will fully assist the Greek police with the prosecution of this individual. We apologise sincerely to our other 168 customers on this flight for any delay or inconvenience suffered as a result of this diversion.”