Agitated passenger removed from Emirates flight

An Emirates Airlines flight from London was delayed for more than an hour after a passenger demanded to leave the plane, claiming he would be killed en route to Dubai. The passenger, believed to be an Iranian male, became agitated when he learned he would need a visa in order to enter the UAE, The National reported. A witness told the paper the man said he would be killed onboard the flight to the UAE. The passenger was escorted from the plane by police, following a security search of the aircraft. In a statement, Emirates said it tried to accommodate passengers who feel they are unfit to fly. “Emirates can confirm that a passenger asked to be removed from EK004 from London to Dubai on October 16,” the state-backed carrier said in an emailed statement. In April, a British man was jailed for three years after triggering a bomb scare onboard an Etihad airliner en route to London from Abu Dhabi. The Etihad flight was diverted under fighter jet escort to Stansted Airport after James Glen, 37, told a flight attendant that a fellow passenger had a gun and had "threatened to blow himself up.” Two RAF Typhoon jets were scrambled from a nearby military base to accompany the aircraft, which had 163 passengers and 15 crew on board.