TUI Flight Diverted to Newfoundland After Passenger Restrained for Disruptive Behavior

A TUI flight from Cancun to Manchester Airport was diverted to Gander, Newfoundland, after a male passenger seated behind a family's children made repeated attempts to leave the aircraft and uttered disturbing comments about a man with a knife. The Boeing 787-9 approached the Pacific Ocean when the captain determined the passenger posed too great a risk and redirected the plane to Canada.

Cabin crew, assisted by a doctor who was among the passengers, restrained the man.

Police in Gander took the disruptive passenger into custody after the aircraft landed during the early hours of Friday morning. Mr Stockford, a Manchester father travelling with his wife and four daughters, said the landing was firm and the passenger tried to get up. TUI staff shouted for him to sit back down while children behind the family cried, thinking they were going to die.

Other children asked their mothers why they felt like they were dying. Passengers left Mexico where temperatures reached 32C and arrived in Gander where the temperature was 3C. Many wore shorts, t-shirts and summer attire.

The captain assured passengers they would receive transport, complimentary accommodation and meals. Nearly 400 travellers disembarked. TUI provided only a small 12-seater bus to transport approximately 360 passengers to hotels several miles away.

Mr Stockford was turned away from a taxi because it lacked a car seat required by Canadian law. After a three-hour wait the family reached their accommodation, which they could use for fewer than four hours because local hotels were largely booked due to an event in the town. Passengers returned to Gander airport on Friday and faced a further 14-hour wait before departure.

Mr Stockford said the group spent fourteen hours on cold, hard airport floors with babies, young children and families, and that these conditions were not taken into consideration. Vouchers were distributed, though food supplies at the airport were largely depleted. Gander residents provided free lifts back to the airport for passengers.

The flight had originally been due to land at Manchester Airport at approximately 7:15am on Friday. The family did not reach home until Saturday. The disruptive passenger's wife attributed his conduct to diazepam purchased from a taxi driver in Mexico, according to the Manchester Evening News.

Mr Stockford said his daughters are now nervous to fly again and that TUI failed the passengers from the moment of diversion to the end of the journey. GB News has contacted TUI for comment.