TUI Airways flight from Cancun to Manchester diverts to Bangor, Maine, after disruptive behaviour of two drunk Britons

Two drunken Britons were charged with federal crime and face up to 20 years in federal prison after an alleged fight on board forced their holiday plane to divert to the US.

On 2 January, Anthony Kirby and Damien Murphy, both 36, are accused of rowing with other passengers and swearing at cabin crew on TUI Airways flight BY193 from Cancun to Manchester, operated by Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner registered G-TUIL.

Murphy is also accused of pushing a flight attendant who tried to calm him down. And Kirby allegedly hit a passenger sitting three rows in front of him after the plane landed.

An FBI affidavit filed in United States District Court in Bangor alleges they were among three men who wreaked havoc aboard the vacation jet.

The lead flight attendant told the FBI she believed the passengers were “slightly intoxicated” when they were boarding the plane in Cancún just before 18:30 (UTC-5). The flight attendant reported they told the passengers they would not be served alcohol onboard. Trouble broke out hours after the plane took off from the Mexico resort. Kirby, Murphy and a third man allegedly reached into a duty-free bag to continue drinking.

They also made racist remarks about the flight crew and passengers while filming on their phones.

Chaos escalated in US airspace with a number of passengers out of their seats and shouting at each other, the FBI said.

The captain gave the men several warnings to behave before finally diverting to Bangor Airport in Maine around 22:00 local time (UTC-5).

Murphy and Kirby were escorted off the jet along with a third man, who was not charged with any offence.

Both men appeared in court on Tuesday on federal charges of assault and interference with a flight crew. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maine requested that the defendants be held until their cases are resolved because they live outside the United States.

If convicted, they face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and fines of up to $200,000 each.

An FBI report filed in court alleges: “During the flight, the men became loud and disruptive. As the plane flew over Florida, Kirby, Murphy and the third man made racist comments to the crew and passengers while filming their interactions with the crew and other passengers with their cameras. The behaviour caused the flight crew to make them change seats.”

A total of 328 passengers and ten crew members were on board the TUI Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

The plane took off later to continue the journey, landing in Manchester on Tuesday morning about four hours late.

In a statement, TUI said that “The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our highest priority, and we have a zero tolerance policy to disruptive behaviour on our flights.” The airline says it is continuing to assist the FBI with its investigation.