A TUI flight from Mexico to England has made an unexpected diversion to the US State of Maine to offload a trio of rowdy and drunken men. Their choice to get drunk could cost them 20 years in jail.
TUI Flight Diverts To Maine After Drunk Thugs Refuse To Sit Quietly, Pull Out Their Own Alcohol
On January 4, 2023, a TUI flight from Cancun (CUN) to Manchester (MAN) took off with two drunk men onboard who were allegedly already intoxicated, Anthony Joseph James Kirby and Damien Jake Murphy.
After takeoff, the men became belligerent when denied more alcohol, then reportedly pulled out a large bottle of booze from their own carry-on bag to continue drinking. But it was more than just the illicit alcohol: the men were rowdy, making “racist” and “profane” comments toward other passengers and crew members (and apparently filming it as they were doing it). The FBI report notes:
“While the aircraft was over Florida, Kirby, Murphy and the third man made racist comments to the crew and passengers while filming their interactions with the crew and the other passengers with their cameras. The behavior caused the flight crew to change seats.”
With the situation escalating rather than de-escalating, the captain elected to divert to Bangor, Maine (BGR) to offload the two Brits. Still visibly drunk, the men were laughing as they were escorted off the plane by six armed police officers. One allegedly got into a fistfight with another passenger.
In the end, Kirby and Murphy were charged while an unidentified third man was also removed, but not charged.
One passenger told the UK Daily Mail:
“It was total pandemonium on the plane soon after it took off. It was obvious that these lads were drunk out of their heads and looking for trouble.
When the plane landed in Maine, one of the men hit another passenger around the face and screamed: ‘You fat scouse c*nt.’
These men didn’t care about anyone, they were swearing in front of young families and were a total disgrace. It ruined what had been a lovely holiday for a lot of people, but we were delighted when the US police kicked them off the plane. I hope they get what they deserve.”
Another explained:
“The passengers clapped and cheered when the US police came on board because we were so desperate to get these men off.
They behaved in a truly despicable way. They were drunk even before they got on the plane, one of them was so paralytic he could barely walk. I could tell that they were going to be trouble and they just wanted to cause problems for everybody around them.
It was quite a horrible, terrifying experience and I don’t understand why the airline let these men board in the drunken condition they were in.”
That’s a proper question to ask. I also do not understand either why these men were allowed onboard if they appeared intoxicated. And it’s not like the men were not repeatedly warned before the diversion:
“About an hour after the plane took off from Mexico all you could hear was shouting and hollering coming from the back of the plane and it never stopped. These men were a complete nuisance, they should hang their heads in shame.
The captain gave them plenty of warnings, so they’ve only got themselves to blame. I hope that they are locked up for a long time. The whole crew behaved in a very professional way and the captain absolutely did the right thing by landing the plane to get these men off.”
These men should be thankful they are not locked up in a Mexican prison, but they will receive a stiff fine and potentially jail time (up to 20 years) for their behavior. Those extra drinks were not worthwhile…
CONCLUSION
A TUI flight made an unexpected stop in Maine to offload three disruptive passengers, two of which were arrested and now face jail time. Stories like these are a reminder that it does not pay to drink excessively before flying but also should serve as (yet another) wake-up call to airlines that passengers who appear intoxicated should not be allowed onboard in the first place.
I’m curious what jurisdiction the state of Maine has to prosecute these men. Are you legally present when flying over specific airspace on an international flight? Further, they diverted to BGR, it’s likely most of their commotion had occurred before they even reached Maine. Regardless of whether or not their actions are right, exactly what charge is a DA going to hit them with? Honestly, if I lived in Maine, I’d be pretty pissed that my taxpayer money was being wasted on these guys.
They were arrested by FBI agents on Federal charges since the original disturbances occurred while the plane was over Florida. Maine taxpayers won’t be contributing to arrest of incarceration Sind they will be tried in a federal court.
The aircraft was operating in US airspace under a US 14 CFR part 129 air operator certificate. Sheriffs in Maine arrested them but this is a federal criminal charge under US laws. The FAA will be fining them with the maximum civil penalty as well so, they will have that to look forward to when they get out of prison.
I’m pretty sure they will be handed over to Federal/FBI custody. That being said, we Americans are paying for it even though it was a flight on a foreign airline from Mexico to the UK.
Did I hear England? Wow!!! How am I not surprised? From my experience working there for 3 years it is rare to find a British man or woman that is not already intoxicated when they board a plane. If they are not already intoxicated, they will be during flight. I never understood their need to get hammered with alcohol. It is everywhere there. I used to get out of business dinners and wanted to go back to my hotel but it was not seen as nice if you didn’t follow your peers to a pub. Problem was they didn’t go for one drink. They would drink until the pub closed and then move on to another one. It was unreal. Many many times I had to catch up a very early flight from MAN airport and before 5am people were already loading on beers at the lounges. Beer for breakfast is typical there.
I could not agree more. The very few times I ran into the British tourists in Mexico, they were drunk and trying to start trouble.
Completely agree… watching them knock back pint after pint at 6am before a flight to Florida while screaming/singing drunk before even boarding is an everyday occurrence. It’s so bad with some Florida airports they make the tour companies bring over British tour reps just to deal with them. The (now closed) lounge at Orlando/Sanford had to start putting wristbands on people like some college party to monitor the drinking. So classy.
It’s heavily dependent on airports and routes. It’s very unusual to have any issues at LHR or LCY and at BHX you may get the odd incident, but the likes of MAN and STN seem to be magnets for dodgy behaviour. Even then, I have never had any issues on my flights, most pax seem very nice and civil on the feeders to/from the continent. I suspect it would be a completely different story if I flew to CUN or Florida on a charter airline.
I never experienced this type of behavior while flying to or from England but have seen many drunk people on those flights. Once I noticed a large group of women drinking like non stop at the lounge before a flight. Interesting enough they were on my flight from Liverpool to Madrid. There were probably 20 friends that kept drinking the entire flight. On the flight they became “friends” with a group of men and things started to get a bit more interesting. They were loud and made a huge line to go to the bathroom since all that booze had to leave somewhere. Both mean and women and the worst part was they were all barefoot and you can imagine how the floor of the bathroom looked like after so many people using it. Disgusting!!
correct 100%, cheap flights attract low-level customers
Marvellous to read of your ignorance. You must have been mixing with such people to have experienced them and presumably were behaving in the same way.
I was unfortunate enough on a recent trip to Canada to meet some Trump supporters, far rather meet an intoxicated Brit than US trash.
most brits/aussies/americans/kiwis have no culture when it comes to drinking, they drink to get drunk while say an italian or spaniard or even greek drinks to enjoy, and has moderation when it comes to quantity, while the brits are always exaggerated and take it out of hand all the time
Wow, you’ve got to love a bit of generalisation! I guess that means that all Americans are loudmouthed ignoramuses? They must be because I’ve seen a few on the TV. 🙂
Typical Thug Losers
How did a bottle of alcohol get on the plane in carry on? That needs to be investigated by the Mexican authorities.
I’ve been to England many times and ate and drank in many pubs. Never seen this behavior in any of them.
Duty free shopping? I assume they bought booze at the duty free and once delivered they placed in the carry on. When they were denied alcohol from the plane they opened their duty free bottle and drank it.
Hope the Crew is questioned about their “ situational awareness”.. a sick or intoxicated passenger can be denied boarding.
Matthew, echoing Jerry and JJ, can you tell us in which jurisdiction these men will “receive a stiff fine and potentially jail time (up to 20 years) for their behavior”? And how they might be returned to wherever they belong?
(Presumably) these men are British (UK) citizens on a flight from Mexico to the UK, removed in Bangor ME. Would they face international aviation charges (is there such a thing)? Maine state charges, USA federal charges, Mexican, British? (Maybe have to spend some time as the new King’s 3rd and 4th sons (spares), that reads like punishment :-).)
Seriously, you’re an attorney, this should be right up your alley. And how might they be expected to be returned (presumably) to the UK, paddy wagon to Boston then a BA flight (economy class) to London? On our (taxpayers) dime, on their dime? Thank you.
Speaking as a resident of Bangor, Bangor Police respond to assist the FBI. The FBI is responsible for the investigation and suspects are prosecuted by the United States Attorney at the US District Court in Bangor. These are federal cases and charges. The US government has a contract with one of the local county jails to hold federal prisoners awaiting arraignment or trial.
Bangor is a well known diversion spot for incidents such as this and other issues like no-fly list passengers, medical issues and mechanical problems (handling 647 unscheduled diversions between 2004 and 2012), as well as being a regular stop for troop flights going to or from the Middle East. It is the last airport encountered before a plane heads across the ocean to Europe and the first one that is reached coming to the US. The airport, police department, FBI, fire department, etc. have a plan in place for these situations and it is activated more often than you would expect.
The Wikipedia page for BIA has a whole section on diversions:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangor_International_Airport
This only would’ve been better had they diverted to MHT — though not likely given that it’s not an international airport. But, just imagine these guys coming back to sobriety to be told they were in jail in Manchester and let them puzzle out why no one around them has a British accent.
How does that work from a U.S. immigration standpoint, especially with the CBP? They didn’t have ESTA to start with since they never were expected to clear U.S. Immigration and which class of admission they would fall under. What if CBP denies them entry? Can the FBI (Dept. of Justice) force CBP (Dept. of Homeland Security) to admit those passengers?
It’s the same as when the Border Patrol catches illegal aliens crossing the Rio Grande. They are detained, but they aren’t “admitted.” They can “detained”, but released on “parole” pending resolution of their criminal case of entry into the US through other than a lawful port of entry. Both can only be in the while they are in “custody”, although that doesn’t mean they have to be physically in jail.
I suspect nothing will happen to these men because the witnesses are nowhere to be found and it sounds like they only committed misdemeanors.
What happens about the assault on a passenger? The airline should step up and take accountability for this. Their safety officers (flight attendants) allowed it to happen. After all, they are the ones in charge.