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.
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