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THIS is the dramatic moment a mid-air brawl erupts on a Ryanair flight - resulting in a steward appearing to get slapped and the apparent perpetrator taking a punch.

A man was filmed causing a ruckus on a flight from Liverpool to Tenerife that resulted in the plane being diverted to Santiago.

The troublesome passenger moved his hand back before slapping a steward
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The troublesome passenger moved his hand back before slapping a stewardCredit: Facebook / Canal 4 Tenerife
Onlookers watch on in horror at the brawl
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Onlookers watch on in horror at the brawlCredit: Facebook / Canal 4 Tenerife
A fellow passenger then leans forward and punches the man in the face
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A fellow passenger then leans forward and punches the man in the faceCredit: Facebook / Canal 4 Tenerife

The dramatic flight was forced to emergency land after crew called cops on a holidaymaker on July 4.

Footage shows staff attempting to control the troublemaker as he reaches into an overhead cabin.

The thug then pulls his arm back before appearing to slap one of the stewards in the face as other passengers watch on in horror.

Only a few short seconds later a fellow passenger sat opposite the action appears to bizarrely punch the troublemaker directly in the face.

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All in shock, the staff ramp up their defence with the help of fellow passengers and eventually get the thug to the ground, footage suggests.

A passenger who claims they were on the affected flight said on Facebook that it was one man who caused the chaos, and that Ryanair staff handled the situation with "professionalism".

The user also made the claim that the troubling passenger was "drunk" and attempted to dangerously light cigarettes in the aircraft - leading to the brawl.

According to Spanish air traffic controllers, officers met the plane at Santiago de Compostela, on the Spanish mainland.

On X, formerly Twitter, the controllers confirmed: "The crew of a flight from Liverpool to Tenerife south have contacted us about a conflictive passenger on board and have had to divert to Santiago de Compostela."

Police swarmed the Ryanair Boeing 737 on the tarmac as well as medical professionals after the emergency landing.

It is unclear whether any arrests were made following the incident.

Ryanair told The Sun: "This flight from Liverpool to Tenerife (4 Jul) diverted to Santiago after a passenger became disruptive onboard.

"Crew called ahead for police assistance and the aircraft was met by local police upon arrival who removed this passenger before this flight continued to Tenerife.

"This passenger has since been banned from flying with Ryanair."

Similarly another Ryanair “flight from hell” had to be diverted just 36 minutes into its journey after a “mass brawl” broke out between passengers midair.

Shocking footage shows holidaymakers screaming at each other across the plane while flustered airline staff try to calm them down about 30,000ft up.

A passenger on board the evening flight from Agadir to London Stansted on Wednesday said a row broke out between two families during boarding.

It started when a man, thought to be in his late 20s, asked another passenger to move so he could sit with his wife and young children.

The woman, who was sitting with her own daughter, reportedly refused to budge - prompting the thug to start threatening her.

The flight took off with no problems, but as soon as the seat belt signs came off, the passenger’s husband, understood to be in his 30s, is said to have jumped to his wife’s defence.

Punches were reportedly thrown between the two men while Ryanair staff attempted to intervene.

A Brit on the flight, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “They were trying to punch each other. One of the families was part of a larger group so other passengers started to join in.

“Then a lady in the row behind started to have a panic attack because of everything going on. She was screaming and there were kids crying. It was like a snowball effect.”

The 36-year-old finance worker from Herts added: “We were only in the air for 36 minutes before we had to do an unexpected landing. It was so stressful.

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“It was like the flight from hell. And it all escalated from that one passenger wanting to change seats.”

When the plane landed in Marrakech, it was met by Moroccan police who marched the nine people involved in the scrap off the plane.

Staff and passengers were eventually able to get the man on the ground
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Staff and passengers were eventually able to get the man on the groundCredit: Facebook / Canal 4 Tenerife
The brawl occurred on a Ryanair flight in July
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The brawl occurred on a Ryanair flight in JulyCredit: AFP or licensors
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