Drunken TAP Air Portugal co-pilot leaves more than 100 airline passengers stranded in Germany

More than 100 plane passengers were left stranded in Germany because of a drunken co-pilot.

A Portuguese airline apologised for keeping travellers at Stuttgart airport after cancelling the flight at the last minute.

Shortly before the TAP Air Portugal flight was due to take off to Lisbon on Friday night, an airport employee noticed the co-pilot walking unsteadily and smelling of alcohol.

He notified airport authorities, who decided to keep the plane on the ground. It was not immediately clear if the 40-year-old co-pilot was detained.

The German news agency dpa reported that all 106 passengers were put up at hotels overnight.

TAP tweeted that the passengers would only be able to fly to Lisbon on Monday, "which is, at the moment, the first day with seats available".