1990 London Gatwick to Acapulco, Mexico. The plane was supposed to leave at 9.30am but was delayed until 5pm. The airline took us to various hotels in the area and by the time the plane departed many passengers were inebriated after drinking for hours. Lots of noise, singing and a bit of bad language. I was travelling alone and about 3 hours into the flight a fight broke out between two men, it was in the aisle right next to my seat, another couple of men joined in and I ended up with one of them falling on top of me. Two flight attendants then waded in and along with a couple of sober passengers managed to break it all up. Some passengers moved seats and all of the combatants were split up. Everything was quiet and uneventful for the rest of the flight. Bit frightening though when it was happening.

Worse we have experienced was a 767 flight back from Cuba about 12 years ago. But not due to alcohol - out of control kids! Big family who were content to let their sub 11 year olds run riot round the cabin. They were squeezing thru the gap in the middle extra leg room seats in front of us to get from one side of the cabin to the other.Took two or three calls from the flight crew and finally a visit from the Captain to get them under control.

I've never experienced anything like Judith's horrendous experience but I've come to dread the overnight return flights from Cuba with Thomas Cook because of the chances of an unpleasant flight due to some children, whether it is out of control ones like you experienced Brewerdave or inconsoloble toddlers who are exhausted and distressed by the long flight. But unlike you I do think that alcohol is still a factor - there's no other explanation for why on one particular flight the parents were semi-comatose and totally oblivious to the mayhem their kids were causing. I don't think it was a coincidence that the flight was delayed by several hours and alcohol is cheap in the departure lounge at Holguin!

It makes me long for the days of Cubana flights because it was rare to find kids on them - any that were on their flights were usually the offspring of Cuban ex-pats returning to the UK after a visit home and they simply don't tolerate the sort of bad behavious that some (thankfully it is only some) British parents seem to find easy to excuse.

We've had a baby on our flight crying for the duration of the journey. However, I put it down to the baby being in pain (possibly ears), as most babies don't cry for hours on end before falling asleep exhausted. It was awful to endure the high pitched screaming but I felt sorry both the child & the parents.

Failing that we've been lucky (touch wood).