Nine Belgian men have been thrown off an early-morning RyanAir flight from Brussels to Madrid after one of them shouted "Allahu Akbar" as a "joke".
The flight, which had been due to leave Zaventem airport at 7am this morning, was delayed for several hours with all the passengers being ordered to get off whilst luggage was taken off and sniffer dogs scoured the plane for traces of explosives.
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Peter De Waele of the federal police told news channel VTM Nieuws: "The flight commander refused to take these nine people. One of them was a foolish joker and called 'Allahu Akbar' ('God is great')"
The delayed flight was eventually allowed to leave at 9:25am after a full sweep hand been done and nothing untoward was discovered.
Credit: Bart Busschots/Creative Commons
At least one of the men in the group will face prosecution as it is an offence to cause a false bomb scare.
The police commented that the man's 'joke' had not been well received by the airline, nor the passengers, many of whom were alarmed and concerned about the potential threat.
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A Ryanair spokesperson told LADbible: ""The crew of this flight from Brussels to Madrid (2 Sep) requested police assistance after a number of passengers became disruptive prior to departure. Police removed and detained the individuals before the aircraft departed to Madrid.
"We will not tolerate unruly or disruptive behaviour at any time and the safety and comfort of our customers, crew and aircraft is our number one priority. This is now a matter for local police."
Only last year, Brussels-Zaventem airport and the city's metro were the scenes of separate terrorist attacks that left 32 people dead and many more injured.
Credit: PA Images
The news comes as Ryanair pushes for stricter rules surrounding the sale of alcohol in airports.
The airline says that drink-fuelled incidents on planes are becoming all too common and it's up to airport bosses to rein things back in.
The firm said in a statement: "Ryanair has already taken a number of measures to prevent disruptive behaviour on its UK flights and customers are not permitted to consume their own duty-free purchases on board.
"Customers flying from Glasgow Prestwick and Manchester to Alicante and Ibiza are no longer permitted to bring duty free alcohol on board the aircraft - and those who have purchased duty free alcohol will be asked to put it into the hold or leave their purchases behind."
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It comes after the passengers on a flight applauded a rowdy hen do being kicked off:
Credit: Josh Daley/Newsflare
According to the Daily Mail, one of the women, Emma Yates, has taken to Facebook to pretty much tell everyone that she couldn't care less.
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"Yes we was drunk. Yes we was embarrassed... so wot? Not assed bout what people think or say!!" she wrote.
"Like you ain't never done it!'
What it is with people and acting like dicks on planes?
Source: The Mirror
Featured Image Credit: Clogsilk/Creative Commons