A PASSENGER has described the moment a man started shouting at cabin crew and threatened to open a plane’s doors in mid flight.

Alfie Haagman and friends were three hours into their Virgin Atlantic flight from Gatwick to St Lucia when the man became agitated.

Cabin crew and fellow passengers had to restrain him before the flight was redirected and he was removed.

The 56-year-old, from Cuckfield, said: “When it first started we weren’t sure what was going on.

"He was completely out of it. He was threatening the stewards and the people around him and spitting at them.

"They had to restrain him. A couple of passengers helped with that."

Mr Haagman, who did live in Hove but now lives in Cuckfield, described the man aged in his 20s, black and he spoke English but he could not detect where his accent was from.

He said: "He was threatening to open the doors of the place and obviously they thought people were at risk so the took the decision to redirect the plane to the nearest available airport.

"Apparently it's quite rare to do that."

The plane landed at Lajes airport on the Portuguese island Tarceira.

The passengers were told they could stay on board but this changed and they had to get off with the flight delayed for about four hours, Mr Haagman said.

There was no suggestion the incident was terror related.

Virgin issued a letter to passengers to apologise.

It read: "A customer travelling with us began behaving in an aggressive and disruptive manner.

"Our crew are trained to handle and diffuse such situations and made every possible effort to manage this.

"Safety is always our absolute priority, and as the continued behaviour of this individual posed a potential risk to himself and others, we had no choice but to divert and remove the disruptive customer."

The passengers were able to get back on board and Mr Haagman, now happily enjoying his holiday with his friends in St Lucia, praised Virgin for their handling of the incident.

He said: "I would like to say how great Virgin were because they were really good."

A spokeswoman from Virgin Atlantic said the man was handed over to the authorities upon arrival into Lajes.

She said: "The VS097, from London Gatwick to St Lucia, on Saturday, January 28 was diverted to Lajes in the Azores in order to remove a disruptive customer.

"The safety and security of customers and crew is always our priority and we will not tolerate abusive or threatening behaviour on board our aircraft.

"We always want our customers to have the best experience when they fly with us, and while very rare, it is disappointing when a disruptive individual impacts that experience for other customers."