New York-Tel Aviv flight turns around after unruly Israelis take business class seats

The two passengers were arrested after the plane landed in New York

Two Israeli passengers turned back a plane from New York and landed it. They clashed with cabin crew after they allegedly refused to prove they had tickets to sit in first class, Israeli media reported Friday.

The two passengers were arrested after the plane landed in New York.

The United Airlines night flight departed at 11 p.m. local time on Thursday for Tel Aviv, where it was due to arrive Friday afternoon.

Passenger Roi Eitan told Channel 12 that after approximately 90 minutes of flight, an argument broke out between the two Israeli passengers and the cabin crew.

“The flight was half full and the two passengers in question decided to take advantage of the situation to go and sit in business class,” he said.

When flight attendants finally asked the two passengers to prove they had boarding passes entitling them to those seats, they refused to comply, he said.

As the dispute escalated, the captain decided to turn around and return to New York.

A video broadcast by the channel shows the police boarding the plane to arrest the two Israelis. The other passengers were taken off the plane.

In a statement reported by Channel 12, United Airlines said the safety of its passengers “is above all else” and that the company does not tolerate any “inappropriate behavior”.

Several incidents have taken place in recent years, in which unruly Israeli passengers have disrupted flights.

An Israeli was expelled from a flight from Austria in 2015 for unruly behavior and for abusing a flight attendant.

In January 2016, an Israeli passenger caused an Austrian Airlines flight from Vienna to New York to be diverted to Canada.

A year later, a plane from Budapest to Tel Aviv made an emergency landing due to a drunken and disruptive Israeli passenger.

In 2018, ultra-Orthodox passengers on a flight that took off late from New York caused an uproar over fears they would land after the start of Shabbat. The flight was forced to divert to Greece.

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