Family fight forces pilot to divert plane

The Daily Mirror reports that earlier this month, David Laughton, 39, and his partner Sarah Wilson, 28, were taking his stepson Lee Doran, 17, on his first holiday abroad, along with two other children.

According to reports cabin crew were unable to control the situation and the pilot was forced to make an emergency landing in Porto to have the rowing people taken off the aircraft.

The Thomson flight from Newcastle to Lanzarote had been in the air for more than three hours when the pair started fighting in the aisle.

Holidaymakers were forced to wait as the whole family were marched off the plane by police officers. They were questioned at Porto airport and eventually released without charge.

Reportedly, the couple, from Hartlepool in Cleveland, spent the night in Porto before booking another flight to Lanzarote with the two younger children. They left Lee behind, who had to be rescued by foreign office officials. He is reported to have made a frantic phone call to his mum in London, and was eventually taken in by embassy staff. His mother paid for his flight home.

The incident is estimated to have cost Thomson £35,000 and the airline may try to recoup some of the bill from Mr Laughton.

Speaking about the mid-air brawl, Mr Laughton told the Mirror: 'We were 50 minutes from landing and Lee pulled his hood up and I pulled it down.

"The next thing I knew, he had his arms around my neck and we ended up in the aisle. When we got to Porto he wouldn't take any money from me. Lee is 17 and lives on his own in London. This has been blown out of all proportion."

He apologised to his fellow airline passengers and added: "I understand this caused a great deal of upset, but we would not continue on the trip as was planned. "I am sorry that the plane was diverted and I can understand why that action was taken."

A spokesman for Thomson also apologised to passengers for any disruption encountered during the flight, saying: "Unfortunately a party of passengers became disruptive on board and as a last resort the flight had to be diverted to Portugal. Upon landing, the aircraft was met by local police and the passengers were removed from the flight for further questioning.

"Thomson operates a zero tolerance policy with regards to any disruptive behaviour on board and incidents of this type are extremely rare."

The couple has been banned from the return flight and will have to make their own arrangements to get home.

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