Qantas Passenger Fined $25K for Bad In-Flight Behavior

A passenger whose alcohol and prescription drug-fueled rampage earned him a 25-year ban from Qantas Airways will now have to pay tens of thousands of dollars in fines and restitution.

A Qantas Airways passenger’s bad behavior is still haunting him following a cringeworthy flight from Perth Airport (PER) to Brisbane Airport (BNE) in July. Luke MacDonald Taylor was already told he was unwelcome on any future flights operated by Qantas Group for at least the next 25 years. Now, a judge has ordered the 39-year-old to pay more than $25,000 in fines and restitution.

According to The Perth Sunday Times, Taylor narrowly avoided jail time, but was ordered to pay the substantial fines after earlier entering a guilty plea to charges of “assaulting, threatening with violence or intimidating aircraft crew and one count of obstructing, hindering or resisting a police officer.” Judge Bruce Goetze said the substantial penalty was warranted because the defendant’s mid-flight tirade put the lives of both passengers and crew in jeopardy.

According to court records, the haunting inflight incident started when a cabin crew member caught Taylor drinking from a flask and warned him that consuming his own supply of booze on board was prohibited. Taylor responded by defiantly drinking from the flask two more times in front of the flight attendant. The illicit booze was eventually confiscated and things quickly went downhill from there.

Taylor, a mine worker, reportedly announced to crew members that he “was not a dumb miner” and that he had $250,000 in the bank. The out-of-control flyer continued his rampage by trying to snatch the headphones from an airline employee who was attempting to alert the captain to the ongoing incident, threatening cabin crew members with violence and assaulting at least one other Qantas agent.

After just over an hour in the the air, the captain made the decision to turn back to PER due to the passenger’s violent outbursts. When police met the plane on arrival, Taylor compounded his woes by resisting arrest. He attempted to bite officers who were escorting him from the aircraft.

Taylor blamed his outlandish behavior on a combination of stress, alcohol consumption and a pre-flight Xanax. He told the judge that he was often misunderstood because of his large physical stature, but explained that in reality, he is “just a really nice guy.”

“You caused a lot of inconvenience to a lot of people,” the judge told Taylor before handing down his sentence. “You are not that nice because you have done the things you have pleaded guilty to.”

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