Plane passenger arrested after punching pilot in the face

A disruptive female passenger punched a pilot in the face after being ordered to leave his plane.

The woman was arrested at Manchester Airport before the departure of the easyJet flight to Cyprus on Wednesday.

The airline issued a statement which read: "EasyJet can confirm that the police were called to attend flight EZY1973 from Manchester to Paphos prior to its departure on May 11th to assist with a disruptive passenger.

“The passenger was subsequently arrested. The safety and wellbeing of passengers and crew is always easyJet’s priority.

“Whilst such incidents are rare, we take them very seriously, do not tolerate abusive or threatening behaviour on board and always push for prosecution.”

Assault

It is understood the woman attacked the captain of the plane as she was being led away.

The flight, which was due to depart at 2.10pm, eventually took off shortly before 4pm.

PA