The September 4 flight, which was taking passengers from Bournemouth to Girona, had to make an ’emergency’ diversion to Toulouse, after a ‘huge brawl’ started mid-air.

Passengers described the whole incident as ‘pure chaos’, adding that ‘everyone was petrified’ and that multiple people were having panic attacks on board.

One witness said: “The whole event was very traumatic.”

It has been revealed that the man, who ended up being restrained, had attempted to open the emergency exit doors mid-air, according to witnesses. 

One witness reported that the man had said “I want to go” before attempting to open the doors on either side. 

This is when other passengers got involved and began to restrain him, as he reportedly spat and ‘swung at’ people. 

Man escorted off planeMan escorted off plane (Image: Submitted) One witness said: “It wasn’t a random fight, the man had gone into the toilet and then afterwards was trying opening one of the emergency exit doors, he then went to try the other shouting “I want to go”.

“That’s when a huge brawl started with a lot more than one man trying to get him away from the doors, there was a big punch up and he then finally got taken down in the isle and was pinned to the floor where they then managed to get a seatbelt extender round his ankles to stop him kicking.”

French media, La Dépêche, published a report outlining the ‘eventful stopover’, adding that thirteen French police officers were mobilized to subdue the man. 

The report also included a photo of the man being taken off the aircraft by police. 

Passengers reported the man appeared to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. 

After managing to get the man away from the emergency exits, he was ‘pinned to the floor’, with seatbelt extenders being used to restrain his ankles. 

Before their ’emergency landing’ in Toulouse, it was reported that a group had tried to keep him in a seat, but he tried to ‘headbutt’ an elderly man who was in the seat next to him.