Airline Bans Drunk Passenger After ‘Punching’ and ‘Trying to Bite’ Cabin Crew on Board International Flight
(Photo: Ondrej Bocek/Unsplash)
Jet2 banned a 61-year-old woman after the allegedly drunk passenger disrupted a flight heading from Scotland to Turkey. The woman’s “appalling and aggressive behavior” forced the plane to make an emergency landing at the Thessaloniki Airport in Greece on Oct. 15. Today, she appeared in court for her reportedly intoxicated actions on board the aircraft.
According to court statements obtained by Glasgow Live, a flight attendant stated, “For about half an hour, until the plane made an emergency landing, she was constantly banging her feet on the floor and her head on the front seat. When we put an oxygen mask on her, she immediately took it off and started punching the flight crew, trying to bite them, disrupting the safety of the flight as I can attest as a cabin crew.”
The pilot told the court that he requested an emergency landing after being informed of a woman who was intoxicated and required medical attention. The flight crew also explained to the pilot that the allegedly drunk passenger had hit and pushed members of the crew as well as thrown a glass of water at her husband.
A spokesperson for the airline said, “Flight LS199 from Glasgow to Antalya diverted to Thessaloniki Airport on the evening of Sunday, October 15, so that a disruptive customer could be offloaded after she demonstrated a continued pattern of appalling and aggressive behavior onboard.”
The 61-year-old woman appeared in court, where she apologized and claimed to have suffered a panic attack. She also claimed to have a gap in her memory and did not recall her actions.
“I wanted to apologize. I was medicated when I got on the plane and had a panic attack,” said the woman. “I consumed alcohol earlier, not on the plane. I apologize, I couldn’t imagine what happened, I have a gap,”
Jet2 confirmed that the woman has been banned for life.
In a statement, the airline said, “As a family-friendly airline, we take a zero tolerance to disruptive behavior, and we can confirm that the customer has been banned for life. We would like to thank our highly trained crew for their handling of this incident, however, they should never have to deal with such behavior. We would also like to apologize to customers for the disruption on their flight home.”
The Criminal Court of Thessaloniki found the woman guilty on all charges. The court sentenced her to 17 months in prison which is suspended for a three year period.
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