A man was tasered by police on board an aircraft at Gatwick Airport after reportedly wanting to take two pieces of hand luggage onto the plane. The incident, which led to the man’s arrest, happened on board an easyJet flight waiting to depart from Gatwick to Belfast just after 8am.
A passenger on the flight tweeted about the incident, saying that the man “was insistent of wearing his man purse. He tried to insinuate that it was racially motivated”.
A Sussex Police spokesman said: “A man is in police custody after being tasered on an aircraft waiting to depart from Gatwick Airport to Belfast on Thursday morning.
“Police officers were called to the easyJet flight shortly after 8am to reports of a passenger who was becoming increasingly abusive following a dispute over luggage. A man has been arrested on suspicion of breach of the peace. The aircraft has been disembarked and police are taking statements from witnesses among the crew and passengers.”
An easyJet spokeswoman said: “EasyJet can confirm that police boarded flight EZY831 from London Gatwick to Belfast on August 20 due to a passenger behaving disruptively. The safety and wellbeing of passengers and crew is always easyJet’s priority.”