19 October 2023 , 15:13
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A ‘drunk’ woman who reportedly tried to bite and punch staff on her Jet2 flight before forcing the aircraft into an emergency landing has blamed her outburst on a panic attack.
The 61-year-old passenger was flying from Glasgow to Turkey before the plane had to divert to Thessaloniki Airport in Greece as a result of her behaviour on Sunday, October 15. Police waited for the unruly traveller upon landing and she was later charged with obstructing traffic, disorderly conduct on an aircraft in flight and disobeying pilot orders.
She claimed that she had a gap in her memory during the incident due to a panic attack caused by alcohol consumed before the flight that had mixed with her medication. She was found guilty on all charges at the Criminal Court of Thessaloniki and was sentenced to 17 months in prison, suspended for three years.
The rowdy woman had been banging her feet on the floor and her head on the front seat before staff put an oxygen mask on her. She then ripped it off and ‘punched and tried to bite’ members of the cabin crew and threw a glass of water at her husband who was sitting next to her before the pilot ordered an emergency landing for safety reasons, a flight attendant told the court.
During the trial, the passenger said sorry and claimed she was ‘medicated’ and suffered a panic attack, reports Greek newspaper Protothema. She said: "I consumed alcohol earlier, not on the plane. I apologise, I couldn't imagine what happened, I have a gap (in my memory).”
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A spokesperson for Jet2 said the woman is banned from flying with them again and added: “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 behaviour onboard. As a family-friendly airline, we take a zero tolerance to disruptive behaviour, 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 behaviour. We would also like to apologise to customers for the disruption on their flight home.”