Unruly passenger to pay $35,935

Anchorage Daily News

Published: August 30th, 2007 04:16 AM
Last Modified: August 30th, 2007 07:13 AM

An Oklahoma City man must pay Northwest Airlines more than $35,000 in restitution for assaulting a crew member in a disruptive tantrum last spring and causing an international flight to be diverted to Anchorage, the U.S. Department of Justice said Wednesday.

Halazo, 49, was ordered to pay $35,935 to the airline and also sentenced to 69 days in jail, equal to the time he's already served.

The incident occurred May 8 when Holazo was a passenger aboard Northwest Flight 71, according to the U.S. Attorney's office in Anchorage. The flight originated in Detroit and was on its way to Japan when it had to land at Stevens International Airport because of Holazo's actions, said U.S. Attorney Nelson Cohen.

Holazo was convicted of interference with a flight crew and ordered to immediately pay $20,000 to Northwest Airlines, money to be taken from the cash Holazo had with him at the time of the arrest, Cohen said in a written statement.

Federal Judge Timothy Burgess also ordered Holazo to have his abuse of alcohol addressed and not to fly on any commercial airline without approval from probation officials.