Latest news with #disruptivebehaviour
BBC News
30-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
French ministers escalate Spain row over Jewish teens removed from flight
The removal of a French group of Jewish teenagers from a flight in Spain last week has prompted a diplomatic row, after their group leader was handcuffed by police and a Spanish minister called them "Israeli brats".French government ministers Aurore Bergé and Benjamin Haddad have given a strongly worded statement condemning Spain's transport minister Óscar Puente's remarks and the actions of teenagers and their counsellor were among the group of 44 children and eight adults who were taken off Vueling flight V8166 from Valencia to Paris on 23 July while on their way home from a summer camp. Vueling says the French group was removed from the flight because of "disruptive behaviour". The airline has said it aims "to provide a rigorous and transparent account of the facts".However, accounts of what happened before the incident differ dramatically, and have led to allegations of antisemitism, which have been vehemently rejected by both the airline and Spanish on social media showed police holding the female counsellor down on the ground in a corridor while they handcuffed two French ministers, who have both since spoken to the woman, said she had been signed off work for 15 days because of "temporary incapacity"."No act justifies the disembarkation and the excessive and brutal use of force by the Guardia Civil against the young woman," said Bergé and Óscar Puente later deleted his post describing the teenagers as "Israeli brats", the French ministers said they strongly condemned his statement for "equating French children who were Jewish with Israeli citizens, as if this in any way justified the treatment they were subjected to"."We will never accept the trivialisation of anti-Semitism," the ministers said the captain had ordered the removal of the group from the Vueling plane after they had ignored instructions from the airline has given two statements since the events unfolded a week alleged that the group had "mishandled emergency equipment and actively disrupted the mandatory safety demonstration, repeatedly ignoring instructions from cabin crew".Vueling said that as part of its internal inquiry it had taken witness statements from other passengers who had backed up its account and that of the police. It accused some of the children of adopting "confrontational behaviour"... such as "attempting to loosen life jackets, tampering with overhead oxygen masks and removing a high-pressure oxygen cylinder", violating air safety laws. An anonymous passenger gave a statement to Spain's La Sexta TV appearing to back up Vueling's statement, saying that some of the children had pulled life jackets out and pressed the crew-call other accounts have disputed the airline's version of passenger called Damien, who was at the front of the plane and not part of the young group, told Europe 1 radio that the children had been "very calm, especially for teenagers... there was one who called to his friend for two seconds but everything was perfectly fine".Karine Lamy, the mother of a teenage boy in the group, told i24 TV that "one child sang a song in Hebrew, then he began shouting and the staff on board came up to him and the group leader and warned him immediately that if he carried on singing or making a noise they'd call the police". She said the children then calmed down and five minutes later the police boarded the plane and told the leader and the whole group to to Damien, a flight attendant said during the safety demonstration that there was a security issue and that they were going to call police."There was no shouting, no violence," he insisted, adding that he had no idea whether there had been any interruption to the safety demonstration as everyone was paying attention to it at the time.A lawyer for the Club Kineret summer camp group, Murielle Ouknine-Melki, told French TV that some of the children wore a kippah (Jewish skullcap) and she had no other explanation for what happened other than that they were said it categorically denied that its crew's behaviour related to the religion of the passengers. The Guardia Civil said its officers too were not aware they were the weekend, France's foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, contacted Vueling's chief executive, Carolina Martinoli, to express his "deep concern" at what had happened.
Daily Mail
10-06-2025
- Daily Mail
Chaos as passenger allegedly kicks airline crew during wine-fuelled outburst on overseas flight to Sydney
An Italian-Australian woman was arrested by federal police after allegedly drinking a bottle of her own wine on a plane and fighting airline crew on a flight to Sydney. The dual national woman, 64, was arrested at Sydney Airport on June 3 following the chaotic flight from Noumea, New Caledonia. Australian Federal Police allege the woman 'consumed a bottle of her own wine on a flight' and 'became verbally abusive and disruptive' when asked to stop. When it was time for the flight to land, cabin crew asked the woman to be seated before she allegedly refused. 'Airline crew attempted to physically restrain her to a seat,' an AFP spokesman said. 'The AFP will allege the woman kicked an airline crew member in the stomach and continued to engage in antisocial behaviour.' Airline staff requested the AFP's help in getting the woman off the plane and she was taken to the Prince Of Wales Hospital in nearby Randwick. She was released the following day and charged with assaulting a crew member of a Division Three aircraft, offensive and disorderly behaviour on an aircraft, failing to comply with safety instructions by cabin crew and consuming alcohol not provided by crew. The woman is due to face Wollongong Local Court on Tuesday. AFP Detective Acting Superintendent Dom Stephenson warned his officers would not tolerate disruptive behaviour in airports or on board flights. 'All passengers and airline staff have the right to feel safe and should not have to witness intoxication, violence or bad behaviour, particularly when they're in a confined space in the air,' Supt Stephenson said. 'People who engage in antisocial behaviour should understand this not only impacts their own travel plans, but also that of hundreds of other people if they cause a flight to be delayed or cancelled. 'People who break the law will be dealt with swiftly and will be brought before the courts.' Those who observe concerning behaviour in or around Australian airports have been urged to report it to Airport Watch at 131 237 (131 AFP). Reportable behaviour can include avoiding screening, leaving bags unattended, loitering, concealing identity, acting erratically, or taking photos of security - including cameras, screening, or perimeter fencing.
