Passenger liner makes emergency landing in Chelyabinsk after incident on board
The passenger has been taken to doctors for a drunk test
MOSCOW, January 18 (Itar-Tass) - A passenger plane en route from St. Petersburg to Osh, in Kyrgyzstan, has made an unscheduled landing in Chelyabinsk, in the Urals, after what the local airport’s police official described as “an incident” between a passenger and a flight attendant.
As follows from what the source told Itar-Tass by telephone a probe into the details of what happened on board is underway.
“The passenger has been taken to doctors for a drunk test. The flight attendant will be examined for bodily injuries,” the source said.
The Urals Federal District transport police department later explained that the pilot of an Airbus-319 (Flight 887 St. Petersburg-Osh) contacted the control tower of the Chelyabinsk airport at 00:50 local time to request an emergency landing. There were 56 passengers and four crew on board.
A police spokeswoman said there had been a brawl between a drunk passenger and a flight attendant. The passenger, a Kyrgyzstan-born resident of St. Petersburg, 1984, had lit a cigarette in the toilet at the tail of the plane. The flight attendant reprimanded the smoker, who responded with a punch in the face. The flight attendant fought back. Both men received injuries. The flight attendant suffered a torn upper lip, and the passenger, broken nasal floor,” the spokeswoman said.
After the landing transport police took the passenger and flight attendant to a medical examination.
The plane left Chelyabinsk for its final destination at 03:05 local time.