An airline passenger smashed a glass bottle and stabbed a fellow passenger in a frenzied attack on a British Airways flight to the Caribbean on Monday.
Shocking footage shows the moment flight BA2159 from Gatwick to St Lucia descended into chaos as a brawl broke out between several passengers around an hour and 20 minutes from touchdown.
The pilots had no option but to continue on to the island’s Hewanorra International Airport in Vieux Fort as the brutal fight raged on in the cabin.
According to the St Lucia Times, the brawl kicked off when one passenger, who had been arguing back and forth with another man on the flight, snapped and stormed to the kitchen area of the Boeing 777 jet.
The aggressor, a man from St Lucia wearing a bucket hat and spectacles, is said to have smashed a bottle in the galley, spraying shards of glass throughout the food preparation area, before beelining back up the gangway and plunging the jagged edges of the bottle into his foe.Heroic passengers and staff then dived in to separate the pair, but not before the unarmed passenger received a considerable gash, and blood was splattered across the cabin.
One peacemaker, also St Lucian, was cut badly and was treated by a nurse on the flight.
Passenger Nichola Pierre said: ‘I was on board this flight and these guys were drinking and giving jokes with each other before this occurred.
‘One man got stabbed in the torso and the other guy in the back of the head before another gentleman and myself were able to calm down this guy who purchased a duty free wine bottle which he used to commit the act.
‘Thankfully, the escalated situation was dealt with swiftly and normalcy was maintained.’
Another source told The Sun: ‘It was a truly frightening experience for the crowded passengers. There was a lot of understandable upset.
‘The men were arguing throughout the flight after take-off from Gatwick airport.
‘The row turned into pushing and shoving then things suddenly got really nasty.
The aggressor, a man from St Lucia wearing a bucket hat and spectacles, is said to have smashed a bottle in the galley, spraying shards of glass throughout the food preparation area
‘Suddenly there was blood in the cabin. No one knew how gruesome it was going to get. It could have been so much worse.’
The cabin crew were finally able to get everything under control and with the help of the pilot alerted Saint Lucia officials before the plane landed.
Police arrested the assailant without incident after the aircraft touched down, while the individuals who sustained injuries were taken to hospital to receive further medical attention.
A spokesman for St Lucia police said the matter was under investigation, adding: ‘We are looking into this with immediate effect. This is a very serious matter which occurred on a plane. This is very serious indeed.’
The identities of the passengers involved have not yet been released.
A British Airways representative said: ‘We’re shocked that anyone would act in this way and are grateful to our highly trained cabin crew and the customers who supported them in handling this difficult incident.
The unarmed passenger received a considerable gash, and blood was splattered across the cabin
‘We want to assure customers that this behaviour will never be tolerated and we will always take the appropriate action.’
