A Scottish flight was forced to make an emergency landing after a passenger claimed to have a firearm on board.
Passengers on the flight from Edinburgh to Madeira were left terrified this morning after the craft was forced to make an unscheduled stop 600 miles from their destination in Lisbon.
The man, who was sitting near the back of the easyJet flight, was arrested by Portuguese police when the flight touched down.
Panic-stricken families said a row had broken out after a man behaved “disruptively” towards other passengers.
The plane then began a sudden descent as crew members rushed through the cabin.
After the flight had landed, overhead luggage was searched and the pilot announced to passengers that he had been forced to act.
One woman, who had been travelling on the flight, told the Daily Record: “We weren’t aware of trouble until we were told to fasten our seat belts as we were going to experience light turbulence. We were at the front of the plane and the disturbance was at the back.
After about ten minutes, it became obvious we were descending and the captain said we were landing in Lisbon for a passenger to get off.
“At first we thought someone was ill but they hadn’t asked if anyone medically qualified was on board.”
After the plane landed in Lisbon, the captain told passengers that police would be boarding the jet.
The woman said: “The police entered the rear of the plane and took the passenger off before coming back on and taking statements from the pilot and crew.”
She added: “Full credit to the captain and crew for their handling of the situation.
“The majority of passengers were not aware of trouble until we were in Lisbon.”
The plane later arrived at Madeira’s Funchal airport two hours after originally scheduled.
A spokeswoman for easyJet apologised to passengers, but said the airline had no other choice but to land in Lisbon.
She said: “EasyJet can confirm that flight EZY6957 from Edinburgh to Funchal on August 1 diverted to Lisbon and was met by police due to a passenger behaving disruptively.
“EasyJet’s cabin crew are trained to assess and evaluate all situations and to act quickly and appropriately to ensure that the safety of the flight and other passengers is not compromised at any time.
“Whilst such incidents are rare we take them very seriously, do not tolerate abusive or threatening behaviour on board and always push for prosecution.
“We would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
