US jets sent into action after two men are seen in a toilet

If two male passengers aboard an American Airlines flight from London to New York thought they were being discreet each time they darted into a lavatory together they were much mistaken. Soon everyone was taking notice, including the United States military.

Tomfoolery of any kind in the skies is not taken lightly nowadays. In this instance, flight attendants told the pilots they were concerned about the men after they had been spotted slipping into a single lavatory together, not once but on five different occasions.

It was then that the frisky British pair – proud newcomers, it later turned out, to the Mile High Club – drew altogether more serious attention.

The pilot discussed the men with supervisors on the ground and the US Air Force overheard the conversation. Two F-16 fighter jets were scrambled to escort the airliner for the remainder of the flight.

"A captain had requested that the local authorities meet the two passengers at the gate at Kennedy [airport]," a spokeswoman for American Airlines said, noting that no one from the airline had actually asked for the F-16s.

"The captain didn't believe the situation was that serious, but it happened anyway."

When the plane touched down at JFK, the men were happily asleep. Once on the ground they were confronted by the authorities.

What had been a red alert quickly became a moment for red faces. They revealed they had taken the Mile High Club to new limits, by having sex and smoking crack cocaine on the passenger jet.

The American authorities may have been relieved, but they were not amused. The two men escaped criminal charges but were summarily turned around and put on a plane back to London.