so impressed w/MH2 cabin crew (Kuala Lumpur-LHR); amazing professionalism/handling of passenger who was off his head
After Malaysia visit, London mayor Boris Johnson caught in mid-air drama
Johnson with a trishaw which was presented to him as a gift on Tuesday
PETALING JAYA: London Mayor Boris Johnson, on his way home after visiting Malaysia, was caught up in a mid-air drama when he tried to calm a passenger who became abusive and violent on the Malaysia Airlines flight from to London, according to The Telegraph.
It said a member of his delegation described the unnamed man as “off his head” before he was restrained by cabin crew and arrested on arrival at Heathrow Airport.
The Mayor was returning from a tour of Asia on the MAS flight when the man, thought to have been drinking, began singing and shouting abuse.
Fellow passengers and the crew attempted to calm him, and were initially successful but he became unruly again and was restrained.
A flight steward was said to have sustained a cut cheek in the melee.
The Mayor’s official spokesman said: “The Mayor along with a number of other passengers and members of the cabin crew did make several attempts to calm the gentleman concerned but to no avail.
“We understand the gentlemen was restrained by the crew and detained by police on arrival at Heathrow.”
Johnson was on a 13-hour flight from Kuala Lumpur and is said to have been disturbed by shouting and singing. He moved to sit by the abusive passenger and attempted to calm him.
He warned the man that he might have to be retrained if he did not settle down. Eventually five male crew members intervened and pinned him down.
Police boarded the plane when it landed and led the man off the aircraft before the rest of the passengers were allowed to disembark.
A photograph of the mid-air drama was captured by the same member of Johnson’s entourage, his technical ambassador Eileen Burbidge, who tweeted the image of the crew tackling the man.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said officers responded to reports of a disruptive passenger onboard a flight at Heathrow Airport.
Scotland Yard said David Morris, 43, of Wentworth Close, Ash Vale, Aldershot, Surrey was later charged with one count of assault by beating, one count of behaving in a threatening, abusive or insulting manner towards a member of the crew, and one count of being drunk in an aeroplane.
It is not the first time that the Mayor has played Good Samaritan. In 2009, he intervened to rescue Franny Armstrong, a documentary maker, when he came across her being attacked in the street by what he described as a gang of “feral” young girls, including one wielding an iron bar.
And earlier this year, while on a campaign trip to Harrow, he and David Cameron stopped their car to help a young woman who had collapsed in the street.
Boris Johnson witnesses dramatic mid-air scuffle to restrain aggressive passenger who was 'off his head'
Boris Johnson witnessed a mid-air drama after cabin crew restrained an aggressive passenger described as being 'off his head' while singing loudly.
The Mayor of London was heading back from the Far East with his trade delegation when the unexpected events began to unfold at 35,000 feet.
Credit: Twitter/Eileen Burbidge
The mayor sat near the abusive passenger to try to calm him down. But he became increasingly abusive and was eventually restrained by cabin crew.
Eileen Burbidge was among those travelling with Boris Johnson. She said she was impressed with the "amazing professionalism" of the crew and the way they handled the passenger who was, as she put it, "off his head".
Credit: Twitter/Eileen Burbidge
Speaking to BBC News, passenger Tom Oakes said:
The crew took him down the plane and spent an hour or so calming him down.
He returned to his seat and the whole cabin were nervous. He started ranting.
They warned him three times and yet he was aggressive.
At this point 6 crew pinned him down, cuffed him, tied his legs and strapped him in a seat.
The man calmed down and started to sober up. However he was still belligerent and at one point rolled down the aisle with his hands in cuffs.
The mayor laughed the incident off and congratulated the crew for their work, which was excellent.
– TOM OAKES, PASSENGER
The Mayor along with a number of other passengers and members of the cabin crew did make several attempts to calm the gentleman concerned but to no avail.
We understand the gentlemen was restrained by the crew and detained by police on arrival at Heathrow.
– MAYOR OF LONDON SPOKESMAN
Heathrow Airport Credit: PA
At approximately 5.40am today, police were contacted following reports of a disruptive passenger on a flight to Heathrow airport. The passenger, a man aged 43, was arrested on suspicion of being drunk on board an aircraft and common assault. He was taken to a west London police station where he remains in custody.
