Drunk passenger forced to pay for flight turnaround
A drunk passenger whose behaviour forced a pilot to turn round the plane has been ordered to pay the airline $98,000.
James August, from New Jersey, pleaded guilty in February to interfering with cabin crew on a Hawaiian Airlines flight from Honolulu to New York.
He had reportedly threatened to kill his girlfriend and her three children, had punched a steward and had continued to shout, swear, and threaten violence to other crew and passengers until male passengers stepped in to resrain him.
According to reports in the Honolulu Star Advertiser, the pilot decided to turn back the flight to Hawaii to ensure the safety of passengers just a few hours into the 12-hour flight.
The pay-out will cover the cost of fuel, maintenance, ground crew, replacement flight crew, landing fees and re-catering, but not the $46,900 compensation costs the airline handed out to the delayed passengers.
August was also sentenced to three years of probation.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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