A passenger was charged today with assaulting a pilot who refused to let him board a flight.

The 39-year-old was removed from the Aberdeen-bound flight by military police at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam last night.

It was claimed he became physically abusive after the KLM captain stopped him when he tried to board and told him he was too drunk to travel.

The captain was left with slight injuries and a torn uniform. He then told the remaining 99 passengers over the loudspeaker that their flight would be delayed because he had been attacked.

The man, from Aberdeen, was being held by police in Amsterdam. He was charged with assault and now faces prosecution.

Passenger Gary Smith, 38, an engineer from Inverness, told The Press and Journal newspaper: "The man was well drunk and was tottering up towards the plane.

"Just about the time we were about to leave, the captain came on quite shaken and said he had been assaulted by a passenger."

A KLM spokesman said the Boeing 737 flight, which was due to leave at 9.05pm, was delayed for 30 minutes. He said: "A passenger, believed to be drunk, has hit the captain, who was slightly injured and got some tears to his uniform.

"The captain told other passengers what had happened and was then able to conduct the flight as normal. The man has been arrested."

He added that the airline had a strict boarding policy.

"We do not tolerate any misbehaviour of passengers because we do everything we can to safeguard security.

"We can put people on blacklists, banning them from flying with the company, if they cause problems.

"Anyone who has any intention of causing disruption is a problem for KLM."
A spokesman for the Dutch military police confirmed they had charged the man with assault. He said: "He had got through the security check and went to get on the plane when the captain told him he had drunk too much. He then attacked the captain."

He added that they were in touch with prosecutors who would decide if further action would be taken.