British tourist arrested for biting off fellow passenger's ear onboard Ryanair flight

The arrest of a man following air rage occurred last Thursday, September 17 in Majorca, Spain. The Ryanair flight from Birmingham to Majorca reported an unruly passenger on board. The police had arrived and were taking down details of the disruption when one of the men involved physically attacked another passenger. Tackling the offender, the police were forced to arrest him. The arrested man is reportedly a 29-year-old British national. The victim, who had a part of his ear bitten off, is also reportedly British. The identities of the men have not been revealed by the authorities as the incident is being investigated.

Before his arrest, the holidaymaker had been causing trouble on board the flight. The Ryanair crew decided to stop serving him drinks after he became inebriated. This did not prevent the man from trying to get more drunk.

He blatantly ignored the crew and continued to harass them for more drinks. When they refused, he made a dash for the fridge onboard the aircraft. He tried to break into the fridge and get some more drinks. Failing to do so he started disturbing his fellow passengers. He ended up forcefully taking a drink from another passenger.

The crew had reported the unruly passenger to the airport authorities. As the flight landed at Palma Airport, the Civil Guard was waiting to take the passenger into custody.

The police were speaking with the crew, taking down their statements before escorting the detainee from the aircraft. In the presence of the Civil Guard, the drunken man started a brawl with another passenger.

From the entrance of the aircraft, the police saw that the man was engaging in a physical conflict. Before they could reach the man and detain him, he bit the other passenger's ear. He was tackled, restrained and removed from the flight. The victim of the attack had to be taken to a hospital in Palma where he was treated for having part of his ear bitten off.

According to the Daily Mail, both the detainee and the injured man are British. Spanish authorities have not confirmed the identity of the men.

Passengers who engage in air rage are usually fined by the airport authorities. The arrest of the aggressive passenger is a rare instance. Police continue to investigate the incident.