Flight fight: British tourists involved in aircraft brawl over face masks

Even with airlines asking passengers to wear face masks during flights, two British tourists refused to do so on Friday, July 31. A video shared on social media captured the fight between passengers onboard a KLM flight. The flight to Ibiza, Spain was disrupted when the two men reportedly got into a verbal and then physical fight with other passengers. The two men were arrested when the flight landed in Spain. Footage of the incident went viral after it was shared on Instagram and Twitter.

The flight from Amsterdam, the Netherlands to the Spanish party destination saw a massive brawl involving passengers. An Instagram account shared two videos of the incident along with some details on Sunday, August 2. It was revealed that two British men refused to put on their face masks after boarding the flight. The post alleged that the men had been getting drunk on vodka.

Inebriated, the men started verbally disturbing other passengers. When the other passengers spoke up against the men, they started getting physically violent. The video showed passengers and cabin crew members crowding the aisle trying to subdue the violent duo. Some passengers were heard requesting the passengers to stop the brawl as there were children witnessing the incident.

The unnamed men were restrained by other passengers. The pilot informed the Spanish authorities of the disturbance on-board. Alerted by the pilot Spanish police were ready at the airport to arrest the miscreants. Once the flight landed, the police boarded the aircraft and escorted the two men off. The men were arrested by the Spanish police. The charges against them remain unknown. A second video shared on social media documented the men's arrest.

According to The Independent, there were other passengers seen without facemasks in the video. KLM has asked all passengers to wear face masks before and during flights. They state that before boarding, passengers are checked for masks and during the flight, the crew also keeps reminding passengers to wear their masks. All airports in the Netherlands have mandated the use of face masks during travel. KLM requires passengers over the age of 10 to wear face masks, while at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, passengers over the age of 13 must wear masks.