DM-A passenger has reportedly had half his ear bitten off in a ‘sickening’ attack on a plane bound for Ibiza.
The assault took place on a Jet2 flight from Newcastle to the holiday island just before it was due to land.
The man, who is believed to be between 18 and 25, has reportedly been receiving treatment in Spain since the attack, which happened on Sunday evening.
One passenger told the Daily Mirror that the victim ran to the front of the plane when it landed covered in blood, with ‘half his ear just hanging off’.
He added: ‘It was a relief to get off and an absolutely horrible thing to happen in a confined space in front of families.’
Another witness told the paper: ‘It was absolutely sickening. To bite someone’s ear off on a plane packed with other people at such close quarters and with families sitting around him is absolutely appalling, people were getting off the plane complaining of feeling physically sick.’
Phil Ward, managing director of Jet2.com, told MailOnline Travel that it was ‘an incident that no one would want to witness’.
‘We are aware that an incident happened onboard a flight from Newcastle to Ibiza on Sunday 16th August between two customers,’ he said in a statement.
It was the second incident to affect a Newcastle International plane on Sunday.
In the afternoon, 68 passengers were led off a plane leaving Newcastle International after an ‘abusive’ stag party ‘threatened cabin crew’.
The Flybe flight from Newcastle Airport to Stansted was cancelled when the captain called Northumbria Police about an on-board disturbance.
This led to police removing all the passengers from the aircraft and leading them into the terminal.
Northumbria Police wrote on Twitter that they had been called to ‘remove a group of drunk and disorderly passengers’ at Newcastle Airport.
A police spokesman said: ‘The police were called to the airport at the request of Flybe and gave the necessary assistance.
‘A 30-year-old man was reported for an offence against the Aviation Act, but no-one was arrested.’
But one passenger, who was not part of the group, said the Flybe staff might have ‘overreacted’ in the situation.
Speaking to MailOnline Travel, 24-year-old business analyst Christian Lillie said: ‘They did not appear to be abusive or threatening but I wasn’t close enough to hear what was said.
‘There were no raised voices, it seems as if Flybe staff overreacted.
‘We were told by the cabin crew that we had to disembark because of an ‘issue’ and the police were present I believe in case something did kick off.
‘But the police told us that it was not their decision for us to leave it was the pilot’s decision.’