Relax - French holidaymakers held after Brazil plane row

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French holidaymakers held after Brazil plane row

AFP | Thu, Dec 10 2009

Scared retirees had demanded to switch their return flight to France over aircraft malfunction concerns.

French holidaymakers held after Brazil plane row

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SAO PAULO, BRAZIL - Three French tourists aged between 54 and 63 found themselves behind bars in Sao Paulo on Wednesday after an altercation on a plane with police led to their arrest, consular officials said.

The two men aged 60 and 63, and one woman, aged 54 were arrested after demanding they be allowed to switch their return flight to France, amid concerns about the plane's safety.

The trio had boarded a Brazilian TAM airlines flight late on Sunday along with around 20 other compatriots - most of them retirees - to return to France after a two-week Atlantic cruise.

According to the French consulate, which is upset at the treatment of its citizens, the passengers were stuck on the plane for three hours because of a technical problem and had become concerned about the plane's airworthiness.

The on-board announcements in Portuguese and English only - translated by the 54-year-old woman for her French-speaking companions - apparently spoke of a malfunction with the plane's computer.

That scared the French group and prompted the travelers' demands to be put on a different flight, consul general Sylvain Itte said.

The TAM crew said that would only be possible if the passengers bought new tickets costing hundreds of dollars, sparking a verbal row that turned physical when airport police were called in to arrest the 60-year-old man.

'Some people talk about resisting arrest, others say the French tried to enter into the cockpit,' Itte said, referring to testimony given by the TAM crew.

The woman who translated was arrested later along with the other man. She was accused of inciting violence through her translations, while police suspected the 63-year-old was the prime rabble-rouser of the group, according to the consulate.

The incident has sparked a diplomatic row between the two countries, with Itte alleging the Brazilian police had failed to immediately inform his services of the early Monday arrests and initially prevented consular access.

'It's clear there were two violations' of the Vienna Convention governing procedures to be followed in the arrests of foreigners, he said.

Itte explained that the detentions only came to light through officials in Paris who were contacted by the worried French policeman son of one of the men arrested who had been told by his mother.

The incident came after 228 people died when their Air France flight crashed on June 1 on its way from Rio de Janeiro to Paris.