Drunk Brits Force Emergency Landing in Toulouse

On Friday evening, September 26, 2025, a rowdy British bachelor party caused a mid-air brawl. What began as loud joking escalated into a full-on fight, forcing the pilot to divert to Toulouse-Blagnac Airport in France around 9:30 p.m. local time, about an hour after takeoff.

The culprits, a bachelor party headed to Benidorm for a guys’ weekend, had reportedly been slamming duty-free booze in the departure lounge, boarding the plane “super drunk” and barely standing.
Passengers described them as “loud and obnoxious,” shouting inappropriate stuff near scared families and kids. Things got ugly when a passenger confronted them, sparking a fight that spilled into the aisle.
The ringleader, Daniel Ashley-Laws, a 40-something British builder from Luton, was seated by an emergency exit. In a terrifying moment, the drunk dad allegedly tried to yank open the door mid-flight, freaking out the 180-plus passengers. “It was horrifying for everyone on board,” a police source said. “The pilot had to land.” The crew, trained for such chaos, alerted authorities and made the emergency landing.

French Air Transport Gendarmerie (CGTA) officers boarded the plane upon landing.
Officers dragged a thrashing Ashley-Laws as he yelled “No way!” and pleaded for his son, who was with him.
The rest of the bachelor party, including the groom-to-be, was cuffed and hauled off amid scuffles, with an officer warning, “You’re making a mistake—you’re coming with me.” CGTA commander Ludovic Fornari praised his team’s “extreme professionalism.”

Ashley-Laws, held in Toulouse custody by Monday, faces up to five years in prison for endangering the flight, especially for the door stunt. The others were questioned, released, but banned from the flight.