French air travellers returns flight midair

Dubai, Dec 30: A group of unruly passengers forced a Gulf Air plane flying from Bahrain to Paris to take a U-turn mid-air and return to offload the disruptive travelers.

The plane that had taken off from Bahrain was about 25 nautical miles east of Kuwait City when the captain made the decision to eject the trouble makers, a news report said.

"Three passengers of a group of five on Gulf Air flight GF 019 from Bahrain to Paris on Dec 28 behaved in an unruly and disruptive manner onboard after the flight took off from Bahrain airport," Katherine Genowefa Kaczynska, senior manager of corporate communication, told Gulf News.

All were reported to be French nationals. According to her, co-passengers requested them to be quiet as some of them were travelling with children but three of the passengers became violent.

"Efforts by Gulf Air cabin crew to pacify them failed and, and the captain, considering the safety and security of the passengers, decided to return the plane to Bahrain to offload the disruptive passengers," she said.

On arrival at Bahrain airport, all five passengers were offloaded, along with their baggage and handed over to the airport security.

"The passengers - all holding French nationality - are now in police custody pending investigations," Katherine told the newspaper.

The flight then left for Paris after a three-hour delay.

PTI