Two men were arrested at Dublin airport yesterday after an incident in which a passenger stood up and urinated at the rear of an aircraft as it was about to take off. Ruadhán Mac Cormaicreports.
The pilot of a morning Ryanair flight from Dublin to Charleroi in Belgium was forced to abort its take-off when the two teenagers stood up as the aircraft was being taxied to the runway.
"Despite requests from staff to sit down for safety reasons, the pair refused," a spokesman for the airline told The Irish Times. "One of the passengers ended up urinating at the back of the aircraft."
Gardaí were called at 9.15am and the men, both in their late teens, were arrested under the Air Navigation and Transport Act. "The men were taken to Dublin airport Garda station and later released. A file is being prepared for the DPP in relation to the matter," a Garda spokesman said.
The flight, which was due to depart at 8.30am, later took off at 9.55am after the aircraft was cleaned. Passengers were not required to leave the aircraft before its departure.
The Ryanair spokesman added that Ryanair took the incident seriously and would be pressing charges against the men.
Dublin Airport Authority said it was aware of the incident.
Green Party TD Mary White, who was on the flight, said the men had been involved in "shouting abuse, threatening passengers with a bomb, while another urinated on board".
She said called on the Dublin Airport Authority and Ryanair to review security.
"This morning's incident not only delayed our flight but left passengers feeling vulnerable and shocked," she said. "I believe we should have more stringent security checks at Dublin airport so that passengers are not put at risk by any other person or group of persons on their flight.
"I compliment Ryanair staff on their handling of this morning's incident, but had stricter safety measures been in place, they would not have had to deal with the incident in the first place."