Two men force Tenerife-bound Easyjet plane to return to Gatwick

Two passengers forced a Tenerife-bound Easyjet flight to turn back to Gatwick after they became "drunk and disruptive".

The incident occurred on a 7.15 am service on Tuesday 19 April, and police were waiting to arrest the men, aged 26 and 27, when the plane arrived back at Gatwick at 8.51am.

See also: Drunk British passenger tries to open Easyjet plane door midair

See also: Easyjet passenger forced off plane for 'looking suspicious'

An officer was allegedly assaulted by one of the men when they were removed from the plane.

The other 143 passengers had to disembark the plane while it was security screened before the flight continued on to Tenerife.

Easyjet told the Daily Mail that the safety and security of its passengers is its main priority, and that they were offered a complimentary refreshment service after re-boarding.

In a statement, a spokeswoman for Sussex Police confirmed to the MailOnline Travel that two passengers were arrested from an Easyjet flight at Gatwick airport on Tuesday morning.

She said: "The two men were arrested for being disruptive and drunk on the plane bound for Tenerife.

"A 26-year-old man from Portsmouth was arrested on suspicion of being drunk on an aircraft, assaulting an officer in execution of duty, using threatening abusive words or behaviour and endangering an aircraft and a 27-year-old from Portsmouth was arrested on two counts of using threatening abusive words or behaviour and endangering an aircraft.

"Both men from Portsmouth, a 26 and 27-year-old, have been bailed until June 2 while investigations continue."