Welshman tells how he stopped violent jet passenger
Jan 27 2010 by Tim Lewis, Western Mail

AN ENGINEER has described the terrifying moment he had to tackle a man trying to force his way into the cockpit of a plane.

Brian Davies, 47, wrestled the man to the ground when he became violent near the end of a flight from Cardiff to the Canary Islands.

Mr Davies held the man down with the help of a flight attendant and other passengers until the plane landed safely some 30 minutes later at Las Palmas Airport in Gran Canaria.

Mr Davies and his wife Debbie, 45, from Aberdare, were among 193 passengers on the 8.20am flight out of the Welsh capital on Monday. The couple were sitting three rows from the front of the plane with Mrs Davies’ parents Avril and Clive Jones.

Mr Davies said: “The man was stood at the front of the plane ranting at the flight attendant for ages. We could see he was getting aggressive.

“He was speaking in Spanish but at one point he said to the attendant, in English: ‘I’m not afraid to die. Are you afraid to die?’.

“My wife was panicking because we had seen him with a bag in his hand but then couldn’t see the bag. You start to think does he have a bomb or something? That’s when we started to worry.”

He said two attendants came from the back of the plane with two men, whom Mr Davies assumed to be flight marshals. They turned out to be fellow passengers.

“I could see the attendants had cable ties and a restraint and were going to take him down,” added Mr Davies.

“They tried to grab him but he was kicking and biting so the attendant called for help. I jumped on his back and put my knee into his back. We struggled to get the cable ties on him because he was resisting so much. I shouted ‘Does anyone play rugby?’ and the other bloke helping laughed.

“I said it because I knew we would have to pull his grip at the fingers, just like trying to get a ball from someone, because his arms were too strong.

“I did get hold of one fist and forced his arm back and shouted at the attendant to get me a cable tie and managed to get them on him.

“Once we had his arms and legs tied they put him on the front row of seats flat down, but he still managed to headbutt the flight attendant.”

The man, who is from Gran Canaria, was immediately arrested when the plane touched down. A police spokesman said they believed the suspect had suffered a panic attack and tried to speak to the pilot. He was later released.

A spokesman for the Spanish Civil Guard said the incident was not being treated as terrorism-related.

Mr Davies said: “I felt I had to do something but it was instinct – I was not trying to be heroic or brave. My family were there and I would rather have been helping than sitting down wondering if I could have done something.

“Hopefully, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime incident. Afterwards I was shaking for a while because of the adrenaline but in a strange way it was enjoyable.”

The couple’s daughter Michelle, 24, was told of the drama when the couple phoned home on Monday evening.

She said: “My dad said it was a very scary situation and seemed to go on for a long time, although it only lasted a few minutes. I am very proud of my dad and just so relieved that no-one was hurt and the plane landed safely.”

Confirming the incident, a Thomson spokeswoman said such events were rare.

“Thomson Airways operates a zero-tolerance approach towards aggressive behaviour on board its flights,” she added. “The safety of our customers and crew is the airline’s number one priority at all times.”