A hero Brit tackled a raging drunk passenger to the ground and cuffed him after he started rowing with his sobbing girlfriend and causing havoc on a flight to New York City.
The man began shouting and ‘throwing things’ after the argument on a United Airlines flight from Heathrow.
Passenger Bobby Field managed to tackle the man to the ground twice during the flight.
He was later carried off the plane by border police in front of cheering passengers.
Bobby, 38, was travelling to Newark, New Jersey, with his partner Rebecca Guestford.
Bobby, 38, was travelling to Newark, New Jersey, with his partner Rebecca Guestford. Pictured: Bobby and Rebecca Guestford in NYC
Border police apprehending the drunken man on the plane
The trip was a present for her 31st birthday and it was Bobby’s first visit to New York.
But on the last part of the flight on Friday things descended into chaos.
Bobby, from Brierley Hill in the West Midlands, told BlackCountryLive that they were seated around the center of the plane on the left.
He said that they had noticed the couple when they boarded.
Bobby said: ‘It was about six hours in when the lad started getting a bit rowdy and you could tell he had been drinking. He started grabbing her jacket and throwing stuff about.’
He said the girl was so upset that she moved and was seen crying.
The air stewardess came over to speak to her and she stood up and made her way to the back of the plane.
But then things got out of hand again.
Bobby said: ‘He got out of his chair and followed them and you could tell words were being said – it was getting heated.’
He said that the man involved was a ‘big guy’ and he was ready to help if needed.
‘It was getting louder and louder and you could tell that something was going on and next thing was the air stewardess came running out and grabbed me on the shoulder,’ he said. ‘She asked if I could help, so I got up and walked into the back.
‘At this point, he had the male steward up against the exit door and was having a go at him. He was saying he’d turn the plane upside down and was giving it the big’un.
‘I just approached him and said, “Look mate, calm down. We’re in the air and people are getting upset just come and sit down.”‘
Bobby said the man turned around and came at him so he ‘flipped him over and put him on the floor’ so that he was on front with his hands behind his back.
An American man helped them and they put cuffs on the passenger’s hands and legs.
Bobby said he was shouting and they kept him in that position telling him to be calm.
He said the girl had become hysterical and they left the man for a few minutes to unwind.
They put a pillow under his head and gave him some water but he didn’t want to stop.
Bobby, who works on the roads, said that every time the man spotted him, he started shouting again.
He told him that if he calmed down then he would be allowed to get up, so they stood him to his feet.
But he continued shouting, so he was placed in a chair at the back of the plane.
Bobby said he stayed out of his way because he was the one that had angered him.
He said that every time the man spotted him, it set him off and he ‘wanted to go for me’.
The border police carried the man off the plane in Maine in front the cheering passengers
So Bobby kept out of his way, hoping that it would bring the situation to a close.
He said that the staff released the cable ties from the man’s hands and feet, but then everything started to go wrong once again.
‘He came into the back giving it the big’un again so I did the same again and flattened him down,’ Bobby said.
He said he cuffed him again and told the stewards to keep them on.
They stood up and he was shouting so he asked his girlfriend to pass him his phone and he began recording them, saying ‘you’ve assaulted me’.
Bobby said that it was pointless trying to talk to him because he was drunk and after around 20 minutes he was taken away again.
Bobby’s girlfriend filmed part of the row at the back of the plane.
He was told that as they were still an hour and a half from their destination if the man calmed then the flight could continue.
But he kept mouthing off, so the captain made the decision to divert the flight.
Ten minutes later, they arrived in Maine and within seconds the border police had seized him by the hands and legs and carried him off the plane.
Bobby said they were there for around an hour. He gave a statement to the police and then someone from the FBI came to chat to him.
He said the plane refueled and they set off again to New York.
Bobby said that everyone cheered and clapped when he exited the plane and lots of people shook his hand.
Despite his impressive intervention, Bobby does not consider himself a hero and the altercation did not spoil the couple’s trip.
They even bumped into a few of the passengers in New York who wanted to thank him.
A spokesperson for United Airlines said: ‘United Flight 883 landed in Bangor last Friday morning after two passengers, who appeared intoxicated, became disruptive. Law enforcement officials removed the two passengers and the flight has since arrived at Newark Liberty International Airport.
‘The customers will be banned from future United flights while we review this matter.’ Sergeant Jason McAmbley, public information officer for the Bangor Police Department, told PEOPLE: ‘Two passengers were removed from the plane and CBP and FBI are handling the investigation.’
