On the 17th of July, a 26-year-old foreign man was arrested for disobeying a legitimate order of the commander of an aircraft in Porto Santo.
The Jet 2 flight was en route from Edinburgh, Scotland, to Tenerife, Spain, and was forced to divert to Porto Santo Airport after reporting a situation of a disorderly passenger, whose behaviour raised immediate concerns among the crew.
On receiving the information, the Porto Santo Airport Security Squadron mobilised police officers to wait for the arrival of the flight. Once the aircraft had landed, the police boarded the plane and were told by the pilot that the passenger had refused to obey any commands from cabin crew and himself and had remained uncooperative, jeopardising the safety of both the crew and the other passengers.
The police officers approached the man in question and tried to resolve the situation peacefully, through several attempts at dialogue, reported the Regional Command of Madeira of the PSP. However, the man refused to cooperate and follow the instructions issued by the authorities, so he was restrained and removed from the aircraft.
While the aircraft continued to its destination, the man was arrested, and will be prosecuted as per normal criminal procedures.
Samantha Gannon
Info at madeira-weekly.com
