A man has been labelled a ‘have-a-go hero’ after taking down a fellow passenger on the Ryanair flight.
Footage captured the shocking moment the man jumped out of his seat and placed the disruptive passenger in a chokehold to restrain him.
Dean Whiteside, from Dagenham, Essex, captured the video on his phone.
The 26-year-old said the younger man was drunk and had been disruptive for much of the flight.
He was confronted by a flight attendant when the plane touched down in London Luton at 11pm on June 30.
But the man refused to cooperate with cabin crew.
Mr Whiteside told The Sun: “He was making a nuisance of himself. Over the course of the flight he was singing loudly with his headphones on.
“It was a late flight, everyone was tired and he was rubbing people up the wrong way.
The stewardess spent about an hour telling him, “You’re going to need to be quiet or I’ll call the police”.”
When the man began shouting, “Get out of my face,” and trying to push past cabin crew, the anonymous ‘hero’ intervened.
The grey-haired man jumped from the aisle, grabbing the younger man in a chokehold.
Other passengers could be heard cheering him on as he locked his arms around the younger man.
The move caused the disruptive passenger to be incapacitated, with his arms swinging “like a rag doll”, according to Mr Whiteside.
Police arrived at Luton Airport to deal with the unruly man.
A Ryanair spokesperson said: “The crew of this flight from Girona to London Luton requested police assistance upon arrival after a passenger became disruptive inflight.
“The aircraft landed normally and the passenger was met by police.
“We will not tolerate unruly or disruptive behaviour at any time and the safety and comfort of our customers, crew and aircraft is our number one priority. This is now a matter for local police.”
The budget airline said this incident reinforces the need for changes to alcohol rules at airports.
A spokesperson added: “This is exactly why we are calling for significant changes to prohibit the sale of alcohol at airports, such as a two-drink limit per passenger and no alcohol sales before 10am.
“It’s incumbent on the airports to introduce these preventative measures to curb excessive drinking and the problems it creates, rather than allowing passengers to drink to excess before their flights.”
