Rock star questioned over 'air rage' assault

An airport insider said the millionaire guitarist, who was travelling first class, became abusive soon after the plane took off from Seattle and his behaviour deteriorated during the flight.

Eventually the captain radioed ahead and asked police to meet the plane when it landed at Heathrow.

None of the cabin crew or passengers on the flight were injured.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: ‘‘I can confirm that police were requested to meet a flight from Seattle at Heathrow Airport at 9.50am following reports that a male passenger had assaulted members of the cabin crew.

‘‘The man was arrested in connection with assault and is currently in custody at Heathrow police station. He is still there.’’

A BA spokesman said: ‘‘We take any incident such as this on board our flights extremely seriously.

‘‘The safety of passengers and crew is paramount and we will not tolerate air rage in any shape or form, although incidents such as this are fortunately extremely rare.’’

REM are due to play at the South Africa Freedom Day Concert in London’s Trafalgar Square on Sunday April 29 in front of Nelson Mandela and a 20,000-strong crowd.

The band is widely regarded as one of the most influential groups of the past two decades and have been an inspiration for a generation of ‘‘alternative’’ rock bands.

They formed in the early 1980s in the US college town of Athens, Georgia when Buck, then a record store clerk, met student and record collector Michael Stipe who became the band’s lead singer.

The two became roommates and soon formed a band with fellow students Mike Mills on bass and Bill Berry on drums.

They have since sold tens of millions of albums around the world whilst maintaining strong artistic credibility.