17 Sent Packing, 1 Arrested After Airborne Melee

MINNEAPOLIS —  Seventeen travelers were ordered sent back to London and another was held on criminal charges after a food fight broke out during a Northwest Airlines flight, officials said.

Michael Purcell, 25, was held without bond on charges of assaulting and intimidating a flight crew member and flight attendant, interfering with their duties.

Four of the 18 people were sent back to London on Monday, the day of the flight, and 13 others were being returned Tuesday, said Dean Hove of the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Northwest spokeswoman Marta Laughlin said the travelers, from three families, didn’t like having their drinking limited on the flight, which originated in London, made a scheduled stop in Minneapolis and then continued to Los Angeles.

They began throwing food, yelling and swearing, the airline said. Laughlin said she was told that children were sent to steal liquor from the beverage carts.

Federal officials herded aside all 18 people, ranging in age from 4 to 65, after the flight landed in the Twin Cities.

INS agents believed that they planned to stay in the United States illegally.