On 12 August, LOT Polish Airlines flight LO41 from Warsaw, Poland, to Toronto, Canada, operated by a Boeing 787-9 (registered SP-LSG) was flying over Greenland but was forced to head back to Reykjavik, Iceland, due to an unruly passenger.
A few hours into the flight, the altercation began after a flight attendant refused to serve more alcoholic drinks to a Canadian passenger.
The passenger went to the rear of the galley to shout at crew members, at least five fellow passengers rushed to him to try to calm him down. They subdued the male in the aisle.
One moment, he was able to get away and tried to open one of the aircraft’s doors.
Reason enough for the pilots to return to Iceland. Upon arrival, three police officers escorted the passenger out of the aircraft.
Due to crew rest and duty time restrictions, LOT Polish Airlines instructed the crew to head back to Warsaw. Passengers were given hotel rooms and rescheduled on Saturday’s flight to Toronto, a spokesman of the airline said.
Nobody got injured during the altercation, but LOT Polish Airlines said that the cabin crew was left “extremely stressed by the situation“.
Video of the altercation: Passengers tackle Canadian man after he became violent, tried to open plane doors mid-flight
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You mention that the main reason to return to Warsaw from Iceland was “crew rest times”. I do not see how it works in this case.
Reykjavik is approximately half way to Toronto. Therefore, would it not have been cheaper for the airline and more convenient for the passengers to continue from Reykjavik on to Toronto?
The question of crew rest time seems to be the same going west or east. Do the regulations not take into account circumstances such as this one diverting the aircraft to a different airport? Complete the flight for the benefit of the passengers. The crew gets replaced for the return so they can have a longer stop-over in Toronto. That way rest periods are recuperated at other times and the passengers are less inconvenienced.