A former police officer from East Molesey was forced to wrestle and handcuff a 'drunken' passenger at 35,000 ft on board a flight from Bahrain.

Chris Phillips, a former police officer and security trainer, was returning from a two-week holiday in India and had stopped over in Bahrain for his return flight to London Heathrow this morning.

But after an hour into the 2.21am Gulf Air flight, a passenger began to cause a disturbance and was handcuffed by Mr Phillips and a fellow American passenger.

Mr Phillips said: “A guy from Bahrain lost the plot. Me and an American guy had to hold him down.

“We thought the pilot would have to turn the plane around. He ended up being handcuffed for the whole flight. Police came on board at Heathrow and arrested him but he hasn’t been charged yet.

“I woke up and had to go back and deal with it. He was fighting back for about 20 minutes. I think everyone else on the plane was a bit relieved. You don’t want to be fighting with people at 35,000 ft.”

Another passenger told the Comet: “The guy was loud and agitated almost from the time we took off, after about two hours into the flight there was a commotion as he was tackled by five or six guys, two of whom were staff.

“It took approximately 20 minutes to subdue him. He was cuffed with nylon ties on wrists and ankles for remainder of the flight.

“The staff and two passengers in particular were very competent in handling the situation and avoiding what could have been a lot more serious than it was.”

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “At approximately 7am on Tuesday, February 21 officers arrested a 51-year-old man on board an aircraft, inbound from Bahrain, that had landed at Heathrow Airport.

“The man was arrested on suspicion of ABH and being drunk on board an aircraft. He remains in custody at a west London police station.”

He added that no one was hurt on board and that Heathrow police officers are still investigating.

Gulf Air has been contacted for comment.