TAIPEI (Taiwan News) ? Three Japanese passengers believed to be drunk led to a China Airlines flight to interrupt its journey to Bangkok and head back to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, reports said Saturday.
Flight CI-835 took off on its four-hour trip at 1:56 p.m., but barely had it passed Penghu in the Taiwan Straits, or three Japanese citizens started making trouble, threatening to light up cigarettes and attacking cabin personnel.
The three had bought alcohol at the airport tax-free shops during a transit from Fukuoka, and continued to drink on board the plane, the Apple Daily reported. Cabin staff took their alcohol away because they were starting to harass other passengers, but they then showed signs of wanting to smoke, the report said.
Considering the safety of the 260 passengers, the captain decided to turn around and land back at Taoyuan, where police took charge of the alleged troublemakers at around 4:30 p.m.
The CAL flight took off again for Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport at 6:30 p.m., more than four hours after its originally scheduled departure, reports said.
