Drunken passenger forces holiday jet to divert

A British holiday jet had to divert en route to the Caribbean after an allegedly drunken women passenger attacked cabin crew, it was revealed today.

Staff on the Thomson Airways Boeing 767 flight from Manchester had to put restraints on the woman.

The plane, which was heading to the Dominican Republic with 260 passengers aboard, had to divert to Bermuda where police met the flight and removed the woman.

According to The Sun, the middle-aged woman was thought to have been drinking from a secret alcohol stash.

One of the passengers, Brett Kenyon, 27, from Manchester, told The Sun that the woman stood up and begun "shouting incoherently" and lashing out at staff.

He went on: "She went for them and hit one of the male stewards. He had a big shiner. Even when police took her she was struggling and tried to run off."

Thomson Airways said the incident took place last Friday. The carrier added that it operated "a zero tolerance policy with regards to any disruptive behaviour onboard our flights".

It said the plane had diverted "following an incident involving a female passenger".

It went on: "The local authorities were notified of this incident and, in accordance with our procedures, the aircraft was met by the police upon landing at Bermuda airport where the passenger was removed from the flight.

"Thomson Airways would like to reassure customers that incidents of this type are extremely rare and that their safety is our first priority at all times."

The flight had already been delayed 24 hours and passengers finally arrived at Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic 27 hours and 44 minutes late.