Mid-air profanity could cost dear
A passenger who became unruly after a heated row with his girlfriend, forcing a Singapore Airlines flight to make an unscheduled stop to eject him, may have to pay the A$25,000 (£10,230) bill, according to Reuters.
A Singapore Airlines spokesman said the carrier was looking at ways to get the man to pay the additional costs, such as landing charges, caused by the unexpected stop in Darwin during a flight from Singapore to Brisbane.
The Australian, Michael Edward Donovan, became unruly when the flight crew refused to serve him a drink, following a heated discussion with his girlfriend “involving a lot of profanity”.
“There were no complaints from the passengers about the decision to put down in Darwin and get rid of this guy. In fact, when he was led off the aircraft by police, the police were cheered,” said the spokesman.
At a later court appearance Donovan pleaded guilty to behaving in an insulting manner, but still faces charges of threatening to injure a person, according to Australian Associated Press.
The Darwin court heard Donovan was angry because he had a “bad holiday” in Egypt, and twice asked a flight attendant “Do you want to take me on?”
Donovan was handed over to police after the flight, carrying 298 passengers and 14 crew, landed in Darwin at 3.41am local time. The estimated costs incurred by the diversion included fuel, landing rights, air traffic control fees, hiring or ground staff in the middle of the night and missed connections
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