Icarusian

Not sure if this has already been covered, but the case of a man who tried to headbutt the captain aboard a flight from JFK-LCY has come to court: http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/1219/cou...-kingston.html

It sounds like a bit of an ordeal for the crew and passengers. Crew had to handcuff and restrain the passenger. Flight was diverted to SNN and the passenger in question appeared in court yesterday.

In his defence he mentioned that he had taken a sedative, a sleeping pill and several glasses of wine and couldnt remember what happened. The case will continue tomorrow, with the judge minded to impose the harshest possible sentence.

LTN Phobia

I hope he is forced to compensate BA and passengers fully, and that he receives the maximum jail term.

I have no sympathy for this kind of behaviour whether they mixed prescribed medicines with alcohol or not. Those who are in a supposedly responsible enough position that their workplace send them business class should know better than to think that it would be OK to mix those things in flight - especially 4 or 5 mini-bottles of wine. One bottle is one thing but mixing benzodiazepines with zolpidem and topping it up with that much alcohol in what, 4.5, 5.5 hours (?) would be unreasonable based on common sense. The container/bottle for them also usually state that they should not be mixed with alcohol too (as well as medical practitioner should have advised him - which he might well have been).

(I say "that much alcohol" - it's not really that much, but it is quite a lot when mixed with benzodiazepines and zolpidem at an altitude.)

I hope BA and other carriers ban him for life. But just a 4 month maximum sentence? He could have succeeded in headbutting the captain and incapacitated him. While I am confident that a BA first officer would be perfectly capable of operating the aircraft competently on his own, this is a very serious situation and 4 months appear to be woefully inadequate. Should be more like 10 years... It's one thing being obnoxious but turning violent towards a vital crew member is completely something else.

Habemuspapam

Come now...that's a bit like trying to kill an ant with a hammer. Put him on as many no-fly lists as possible, and problem solved. No need to ruin someone's life for a stupid mistake made when he wasn't in his right mind.

cornishsimon

I personally feel for the crew and other passengers in this case, I also think that the book should be thrown at said chappy.

Things like this deserve press time, anyone who endangers others deserves court and jail time.

But iv got to ask, how many Emergency Service staff, nurses etc will actually be assaulted and threatened today ? The vast majority of these cases will never even make it to court let alone end up in the newspaper


cs

LTN Phobia

He could have ruined the captain's life. If he became incapacitated through being headbutted, likely he would have his medical certification suspended, or worse, unable to have it reinstated if he is left with lasting effects.

There were also cabin crew members having had their life ruined by drunks (this case was not on BA). He broke a bottle and slashed her.

It is not something that can be excused as a 'stupid mistake'. I believe this kind of behaviour is treated too leniently, not just on aeroplanes but everywhere. Drinks and drugs should not be treated as good enough excuses. It's all about personal responsibility. No-one forced him to take those things to excess that he allegedly lost control of himself and his memory.

MNManInKen

It's about bloody time people start taking responsibility again for their actions, one of those things that seem to have been abandoned in modern society.

I hope he will get incarcerated for some time.

MNManInKen

That's another one of those things I can't get my head around: society should crack down in the severest possible way on assaults on emergency staff or police.

When I was a kid, you would not dream of being even just impolite to an ambulance crew or police. Nowadays, parents seem to join in the abuse.

corporate-wage-slave

Frankly I suspect his main punishment will be presumably putting at considerable risk his job as head of global marketing (for a very high profile Wall Street investment company), which he landed some 2 years ago. The ramifications of that will go far further than a few weeks in gaol, since I'd imagine he's somewhat well renumerated.

Habemuspapam

Yes, but there has to be a distinction between "could have" and "did." I have no issue with major compensation, and a few months in the can sounds reasonable.....and, if he had a record of prior similar behavior, I would be more inclined towards the ten years you mentioned....but ultimately we are talking about a failed attempt at an assault while intoxicated.

paulwuk

I was (not could have been) headbutted a couple of years ago. A white van driver took exception to me when I rode into the side of his van (he pulled out right in front of me)

During the incident, he dropped his DHL id card. A witness also took down his numberplate which was rented out to DHL at the time, and left their contact details.

The police took a statement, but didn't bother persuing the case.

Now if I'd have been an airline pilot that would have been more likely to ruin my life through this "medical certification suspended" suggestion.

So,
1) (presumably) sober person actually headbutting someone -- no action
2) drunk + drugged up person attempting to headbutt someone -- upto 4 months

The difference between 1 and 2 is that 2 happened in a confined cabin in the air, so had the potential to be more dangerous, however "ruining the pilots life" is a red herring here.

MNManInKen

It's the CPS, not the police who needs to pursue criminal cases in court. Did you contact them to ask for their reasons?

In addition to any criminal case, if I had been in your situation, I'd have taken him to a civil court for damages.

G-BOAC

Presumably from not having a prisoner number, to having one...whilst ceasing to be remunerated by his employer

LiviLion

Think a lot of people are over reacting just because it happened on a plane.

It's all 'could have' instead of 'did' as well.

There will be bus drivers out there who put up with worse than this on a daily basis for considerably less than a BA Captain.

MNManInKen

That's an argument to step up enforcement on buses, not one for being more lenient on the case in question.

corporate-wage-slave

I'm not sure if RTÉ sanitised the story a bit, there's a longer version here:

Man attempted to headbutt pilot on transatlantic flight