A flight from London to the US was forced to return to Heathrow after a 'drunk' woman allegedly assaulted someone onboard.

The incident disrupted the travel of hundreds of passengers who were headed to Washington DC, as the flight was cancelled upon its return to the UK.

A passenger who claimed to be sat in front of the woman described overhearing her shouting swear-words at her in-flight movie as she allegedly drank what is believed to be gin.

Joseph said the trouble began only about an hour into the long haul flight.

The drama ended with the 43-year-old woman's arrest at Heathrow at around 3pm today, authorities said.

The flight didn't get far from the UK coast and has to circle to dump fuel before returning to the airport (
Image:
flightradar24)

Joseph claimed a fellow passenger told him the disruptive woman had been pushing buttons on her in-flight entertainment screen "hard" into the back of the seat in front.

"There was sporadic screaming and laughter, screaming 'oh f***, oh f***, oh f***.' It was quite loud screaming - probably as loud as one could," he said.

He and fellow passengers were unsure of the woman's nationality: "It's a big debate. The Brits say she was American. The Americans say she was British.

When airline attendants came past with a drinks trolley, his row-mate tipped them off to her behaviour, to the relief of surrounding passengers.

"Everyone within a five-metre radius heard her screaming."

The attendants could be overheard telling the woman on the American airline-owned plane that drinking duty-free alcohol was a federal violation, he said.

It is not suggested that the woman did that.

The flight eventually returned to Heathrow, where it had departed only a few hours earlier (
Image:
Getty)


The attendants asked the woman to move, and she agreed to be escorted to the rear of the craft if she was allowed to inspect the seats, Joseph said.

He didn't see her again, but shortly after that, a voice came over the PA system asking if there were any medical professionals aboard.

The passengers were then told the flight was going to be returning to Heathrow.

he plane had to leak fuel to reduce weight for re-landing, Joseph said they were told.

Police met United Airlines flight UA919 at the airport, and Joseph said he overheard them interviewing another passenger about what she was drinking and shouting.

He said his fellow passengers were not impressed: "They were as you would expect: people were frustrated, generally distressed, upset."

"It was a pretty dramatic experience."

"The flight returned to Heathrow where a woman was arrested on suspicion of being drunk on board an aircraft, failing to obey the orders of the crew, and assault," a Met spokesman said of the incident.

"She remains in police custody at a west London police station. This arrest is not terror related."

The 209 passengers will have to wait until Monday morning for a new flight due to the incident, the airline confirmed.

"Our team at London Heathrow is providing assistance to customers of United flight UA919 (London Heathrow - Washington/Dulles) today, which returned to London Heathrow and was met by police on arrival due to an unruly passenger on board," the airline's spokeswoman said.

"The passenger was arrested and this is now a matter for the police."

The delays caused the plane's crew of 13 to exceed their legally-permitted duty hours, meaning the flight to Washington's Dulles Airport had to be cancelled, United's spokeswoman added.

"We are providing our customers with meal vouchers and hotel accommodation and are making arrangements for them to complete their journeys tomorrow.

"We apologise to our customers for the inconvenience caused."

Joseph said he felt the airline handled the incident well - he told United he was going to miss a connecting flight on another airline from Washington to San Francisco due to the delay, so they re-booked him direct to SF.

The Boeing 787-8 will depart London Heathrow as UA2818 Monday at 10.30am (GMT), the spokeswoman said.