EasyJet flight EZY1805 from Manchester to Iceland diverts after 'mid-air assault'

A mid-air assault forced the captain of an easyJet flight from Manchester to Iceland to divert to Edinburgh.

The firm confirmed flight EZY1805 to Keflavik was met by police in the Scottish capital at 17:03 GMT and a "disruptive passenger" was removed.

One witness told BBC News the passenger had smashed his phone, resulting in smoke coming from its battery before "a guy jumped out to stop it setting fire to the plane".

There are no reports of any injuries.

The Airbus-A320 departed Manchester at 16:07, Flightradar 24 data revealed.

EasyJet said the plane was carrying 141 passengers, plus six crew members including two pilots and four cabin crew.

At 16:40 and just north of Glasgow, the plane turned and flew towards Edinburgh, where it landed at 17:03.

The witness said: "Some drunk bloke kicked off and assaulted another passenger.

"When he realised we were landing in Scotland to arrest him, he kicked off and smashed his phone up.

"This snapped the battery which started smoking on the aisle floor."

In a statement easyJet said: "We can confirm that flight EZY1805 from Manchester to Keflavik was required to divert to Edinburgh and was met by police on arrival due to a passenger behaving disruptively.

"Our cabin crew are trained to assess and evaluate all situations and to act quickly and appropriately to ensure that the safety of the flight and other passengers is not compromised at any time.

"Whilst such incidents are rare we take them very seriously and do not tolerate abusive or threatening behaviour onboard.

"The safety and wellbeing of passengers and crew is always easyJet's priority."

Edinburgh Airport referred the BBC to Police Scotland, who were not immediately available for comment.