Police probe death of passenger restrained after Jet2 flight assault allegations

Police are investigating the death of Callum Kerr, 35, after he was restrained by passengers and Jet2 crew on a flight from Larnaca, Cyprus, to Manchester. Greater Manchester Police said officers were called at about 2.25am on Monday, June 22, 2026, to reports of a passenger behaving aggressively toward passengers and crew on Jet2 flight LS966.

Police said another passenger and a member of cabin crew were assaulted during the incident. When officers arrived at Manchester Airport, they found Kerr being restrained at the back of the aircraft by passengers and aircrew. Officers briefly detained him, and then realised he was unresponsive.

CPR was given before Kerr was taken to hospital, where he was described as stable but critical. He later died. Kerr was identified in police statements and reporting as a father from Warrington, and multiple reports described him as a bare-knuckle boxer.

Witness accounts say Kerr had boarded the five-hour Jet2 flight with his girlfriend on June 21, 2026. Some accounts say cabin crew moved her to another seat after an argument during the flight. Other witness reporting says children were screaming as the dispute escalated, with one passenger saying relatives feared he might hurt someone. One woman said her mother, who was also on board, thought the man involved “was going to kill someone”.

The case has raised sharp questions about what airline crews are expected to do when a passenger becomes violent, when other passengers are drawn into restraint, and how quickly a situation can turn from disorder to a medical emergency. In-flight disturbances often unfold in the narrow space between cabin discipline and safety intervention, where crew decisions, passenger actions and police response can all become central to what happens next.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct has received a referral from Greater Manchester Police and said it will examine the actions and decision-making of the officers involved after Kerr became unresponsive. Greater Manchester Police said its own investigation is underway.

The fatal sequence has left investigators facing a set of unresolved questions: whether Kerr’s alleged aggression, the restraint used by passengers and crew, or an underlying medical condition contributed to his collapse on landing at Manchester. Those findings will now sit at the centre of the police and medical review.