A huge fist fight at 30,000 feet forced a flight to land almost 900 miles from its destination.

The brawl, between a number of passengers believed to be gypsies, saw an elderly woman hit in the head while a stewardess was even slapped.

The Ryanair flight, from Brussels to Malta, was forced to land in Pisa on Thursday night after the chaos unfolded.

Shocked passengers were even forced to get involved, helping to strap the fighters down.

The captain can be heard saying the fight was "not acceptable at all" before announcing the unscheduled landing.

Maltese software engineer Tommy Engerer captured the incident on camera, saying: "It was terrifying."

"The fight went on for so long we thought they might be trying to open the doors and might bring the plane down."

He recounted the moment the fight broke out, saying the chaos took 10 minutes to control.

Mr Engerer said: "It started when an elderly woman moved seats and told me they'd hit her on the head then a huge fight broke out when two Belgian men tried to intervene."

"They were attacking everyone around them and one of the men even slapped a stewardess in the face."

"It was chaos for about 10 minutes until there was an announcement that the plane was being diverted and passengers managed to restrain them with belts."

But passengers were even attacked when they tried to guard the doors from the brawling group.

He praised the cabin crew for getting the situation under control.

Mr Engerer said: "They looked out of control as if they were on drink or drugs and the cabin crew did well to bring the situation under control."

"They were eastern European -- gypsy types -- but spoke a bit of French as well and were incredibly aggressive."

"We were all glad to see the back of them."

It is understood the four people involved in the fight were detained by Italian police when the flight landed.

A Ryanair spokesperson told The Sun Online: "This flight from Brussels to Malta (Nov. 3) diverted to Pisa after a number of passengers became disruptive inflight.

"The aircraft landed normally and four passengers were removed and detained by police upon arrival, before the aircraft continued to Malta."

"We will not tolerate unruly or disruptive behaviour at any time and the safety and comfort of our customers, crew and aircraft is our number one priority."

"This is now a matter for local police."