Violent British passenger forces Virgin flight into emergency landing

Passengers on a Virgin Atlantic flight from London Heathrow to LA found themselves delayed by over four hours after an emergency landing prompted by an unruly passenger.

The British passenger, named William Stephen Hayes, aged 39, was reportedly intoxicated as he began accosting other passengers. Hayes eventually became violent, with accounts claiming he punched another passenger before spitting, biting, and grabbing them by the throat. Others stated he was trying to kick the windows out of the plane in anger before being restrained by airline staff.

Tensions on the plane were already high after the Virgin customers were made to wait two hours during the check-in process, as Heathrow continues to struggle with staff shortages.

The decision was made to land the plane in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he was forcibly removed by local police. Airline staff was still restraining him when the police finally made it on board. The flight eventually took off once more, and the passengers landed at LAX four hours after their estimated arrival time.