41 'Unruly' Passengers Removed From Brussels Airlines Flight

An airline spokesman says they were "aggressive" toward flight crew

ByABC News
November 20, 2016, 4:20 PM

— -- Forty-one passengers were removed from a Brussels Airlines flight before it took off from Brussels on Saturday, because the passengers were being "unruly" and "aggressive" toward members of the crew, a spokeswoman for the airline told ABC News.

The flight took off without the passengers, at least some of whom "had been drinking," en route to Alicante, Spain, according to Kim Daenen, a Brussels Airlines spokeswoman.

"During taxiing, there were a few passengers who were being unruly and also aggressive toward our crew," Daenen said.

All of the passengers were part of the same group, which had all been booked together on the flight, SN3771, she said.

"The captain asked for them to stay calm," but they didn't listen, she said.

So before taking off, she said, "the captain decided to go back to the gate. ... We had to think of the comfort of the other passengers."

She would not give any more details about the passengers, such as what type of group they were or what nationality they were.

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