Woman arrested after jets escort passenger plane back to London

A woman has been arrested after two Royal Air Force (RAF) jets were forced to escort a passenger plane back to London following severe disruption on board shortly after take-off.

Jet2, a British low-cost airline, reported that there had been an “extremely disruptive passenger” on board its flight Saturday from London Stansted Airport to Dalaman in southwest Turkey.

“We are aware of an incident regarding an extremely disruptive passenger on a flight from Stansted to Dalaman earlier this evening,” a Jet2 spokeswoman told CNN in a statement.

“The aircraft has returned safely, and we are liaising with the relevant authorities to support their investigation. We are working hard to ensure the remaining customers reach their destination as soon as possible.”

Stansted Airport told CNN that the flight departed at around 6 p.m. Saturday evening, but was escorted back to London after only approximately 20 minutes in the air.

A spokeswoman for Essex Police, the local police force, said that a woman, 25, had been arrested “on suspicion of two assaults and endangering an aircraft.”

The RAF also confirmed to CNN that two quick reaction alert Typhoon aircraft from RAF Conningsby in Lincolnshire were scrambled to escort the flight back to Stansted.

Police from Bishop’s Stortford, a town located four miles from the airport, wrote on Twitter: “Large number of 999 calls coming in about a loud explosion. We have liaised with Essex Police who are confirming that this is a sonic boom from a passing aircraft.”

Essex Police added: “There is a possibility that residents nearby may have heard a loud noise, often associated with a sonic boom, as the aircraft descended into Stansted airspace.”

Sonic booms, which sound similar to an explosion or thunderclap, occur when objects such as supersonic aircraft travel faster than the speed of sound. Supersonic flights are consequently banned over land.