Police storm plane in Manchester after woman ‘refuses to put seatbelt on child’

Footage has shown the moment police stormed a plane at Manchester Airport after a woman had ‘refused to put a seatbelt on her child’ on a delayed flight.

The TUI flight, from Kos to Manchester on Wednesday (June 21), was due to depart at 1.25pm but didn’t take off until almost six hours later, leaving passengers ‘exhausted’ and ‘in a terrible mood’.

However there were further delays when the pilot had to abort landing and circle over the Peak District when a passenger had refused to adhere to the illuminated seatbelt signs and buckle up her child.

Police met the aircraft on the runway after it eventually landed in Manchester at 9.46pm – six hours later than planned – and escorted the woman off the plane as one passenger could be heard on video saying “absolutely disgusting”, reports the Manchester Evening News.

One passenger said: “Before we took off, flight attendants went to check seatbelts and the woman said her child was terrified and they refused to take off.

“She eventually did it and we took off. When we were up in the air, everything seemed fine and there was not a peep out of them.

“When we came to land, the flight had already been delayed so everyone was in a terrible mood. Then it all kicked off. They went round checking seatbelts again and she was screaming saying she was not going to restrain her child and that she was terrified.

“Passengers were screaming swearing at her, telling her to sit down and calling her selfish, it was all kicking off.

“The captain came over the tannoy and said we would circle in the air. After we landed, we stayed on the plane and the police came on and she was escorted off.”

TUI confirmed that the plane was met by police after landing in Manchester and that the ‘disruptive passenger’ was escorted off the aircraft by officers. The airline confirmed that this was due to the passenger not putting a seatbelt on her child.

A TUI spokesperson: “We can confirm that TOM2309 faced delays yesterday due to an disruptive passenger on board the flight from Kos to Manchester.

“The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our highest priority, and we have a zero tolerance policy to disruptive behaviour on our flights. The customer involved was met by police upon landing and escorted off of the aircraft. We’d like to apologise for any inconvenience caused, and thank customers for their patience and understanding.”