Airline passenger kicked off TUI flight after downing double vodkas and lager before brawling with cops
A DRUNKEN TUI passenger who was booted off board after downing double vodkas tried to run across an airfield before brawling with cops.
Jessica Chance, 37, was arrested after trying to run across an airfield to get back on her plane and branded officers “Nazis” while they attempted to cuff her.
The intoxicated passenger had been necking back an “obscene” amount of beer and spirits ahead of the nightmare TUI flight from Manchester Airport to Santorini on September 15 2023.
She appeared at Manchester Crown Court where it was heard the nervous flyer had been “self-medicating” with alcohol after failing to secure anxiety tablets from her GP.
Cops responded to calls within Terminal 2 after staff tried to boot the steaming passenger off the Rhodes flight for being too rowdy.
Prosecutor Tobias Collins told the court: “Staff confirmed the defendant had been told to get off the plane earlier but after getting off the plane she was trying to get back on.
“She was taken back to the police van and verbally abusive to officers, including calling one a Nazi.
“She was arrested and cautioned and gave no reply.”
Meanwhile, defence counsel Ian Metcalfe said the defendant, who has since lost her job, was “entirely ashamed of herself”.
“She is a single woman who lives with her father and she has no previous convictions or cautions whatsoever,” he told the court.
The court heard how Chance had previously been prescribed medication due to her “heightened sense of fear and anxiety” while flying.
You drank an obscene amount of alcohol. This was not just an attempt to take the edge off.”
Judge Miss Recorder Jennifer Cleever
”Miss Chance therefore assumed that she would be able to pick something up that would pacify her at the airport at Boots, but nothing was available so she resorted to self medicating by drinking too much, too much vodka in fact,” added the defence counsel.
He stressed to the court there “was no immediate safety risk caused” by Chance’s behavior.
SENTENCING
Chance, from Crofton, Wakefield, West Yorks, pleaded guilty to being drunk on an aircraft was sentenced to four weeks in prison which was suspended for 12 months.
Judge Miss Recorder Jennifer Cleever ruled ”mental health issues” were a factor in her behaviour.
Chance was also ordered to complete 120 hours of unpaid work and pay £510 in costs.
The recorder told the defendant her behavior had caused other passengers “serious concern”.
“You were trying to reboard the flight, you were drunk and trying to get back on the plane,” she continued.
“You were then handcuffed to stop you running across the live airfield. That is, of course, dangerous.
“You were abusive to police officers, trying to kick out and calling them Nazis. You told the probation service that you had drunk four double vodkas and some lager to assist with your nerves.
“You drank an obscene amount of alcohol. This was not just an attempt to take the edge off.”
AIRLINE RULES
Disruptive passenger behaviour is one of the main reasons for aircraft diversions, according to the Civil Aviation Authority
Examples of disruptive behaviour include:
- Drug/alcohol intoxication
- Refusal to allow security checks
- Disobeying safety or security instructions
- Threatening, abusive or insulting words
- Endangering the safety of aircraft or other person
- Acting in a disruptive manner
Airlines have a right to refuse to carry passengers that they consider to be a potential risk to the safety of the aircraft, its crew or its passengers.
- Acts of drunkenness onboard face a maximum fine of £5,000 and two years in prison.
- The prison sentence for endangering the safety of a plane is up to five years.
- Disruptive passengers may also be asked to pay the airline the cost of diverting a flight.
- These costs typically range from £10,000 – £80,000 depending on the size of the aircraft and where it diverts to.