Guardian: Castaway: the price of abusing cabin crew

Castaway: the price of abusing cabin crew

Patrick Barkham
Friday December 30, 2005
The Guardian

When a middle-aged man swore at airline staff after he was refused a
drink on a flight from Manchester to Tenerife, he got a sunshine break
he had not bargained for. The pilot diverted the charter plane and
dumped the troublesome holidaymaker 300 miles from his destination on a
barren volcanic island off the west coast of Africa.

The 53-year-old man was confined to Porto Santo, a
Portuguese-administered desert island, nine miles long and three miles
wide, for 36 hours after local police questioned him over the air rage
incident.

According to the airline, Monarch, the man appeared to be drunk and
repeatedly insulted cabin crew and fellow holidaymakers shortly after
the Airbus A321 left Manchester on Tuesday evening.

Understood to be an Irish citizen living in Lancashire, he ignored
numerous appeals to calm down when he was refused further alcoholic
drinks. As the plane reached its cruising height of 35,000ft, the
captain decided to make an unscheduled stop and throw the man off the
plane.

The man, who was travelling alone and had purchased a one-way ticket to
Tenerife, was frogmarched off the plane by police at the airport on the
"golden isle", which is part of the Madeira archipelago and was
discovered by Portuguese explorers in 1419.

His luggage was removed from the hold and searched. While he was
questioned, the captain gave a statement to police before taking off
again with the remaining 211 passengers, arriving in Tenerife nearly
four hours late.

"He wanted a drink," said Gualter Gomez, a spokesman for the Madeira
police. "When he ordered a drink he was told 'no' and so he caused a
fight."

Mr Gomez said the tourist, whom police and airline staff refused to
name, was cooperative but was now being investigated over accusations
of "disruptive behaviour on an aeroplane", an offence under Portuguese
law which carries a maximum two-year prison sentence.

According to police, the new addition to the island's population of
just 5,000 people was not detained in a cell and was released to enjoy
the island's famed tranquillity for 36 hours.

While there is little vegetation on Porto Santo, home to Christopher
Columbus before he set off to discover the Americas, the island boasts
several luxury hotels and a golf course.

After his unscheduled break, during which he could have enjoyed local
delicacies such as sweet table wine and octopus rice as well as the
island's five-mile sandy beach, he travelled to nearby Madeira
yesterday morning and boarded a flight for Tenerife, where he was
understood to be staying last night.

A spokeswoman for Monarch said the man had not been physically violent
but the airline was considering launching legal action against him for
disrupting the flight and causing an expensive unscheduled stop. The
airline said the passenger would not be welcome on their aircraft
again.

"He was verbally abusive to our cabin crew. They asked him repeatedly
to tone down his language but he continued to be verbally aggressive
towards the crew and passengers," she said. A spokesman added: "Despite
repeated attempts by Monarch scheduled staff to calm the individual,
the passenger's behaviour did not improve and the decision was taken to
divert to Porto Santo. The action was taken in the interests of all the
passengers. That sort of behaviour is not acceptable. He was given the
chance to calm down and he declined it. He was given a form, a caution
for his behaviour, and he refused to sign it."

A British consular official in Madeira said she had spoken to the chief
of police on the island about the incident but the holidaymaker had not
requested any consular assistance. "He is free to go. He is not being
detained," she said.

The Irish embassy in Lisbon said it had not handled any requests for
help from the man.

According to Portuguese police, the man will have to report to
Lancashire police as part of the conditions of his release. A
Lancashire police spokeswoman said the force had not yet been contacted
by Portuguese police.


http://travel.guardian.co.uk/news/st...675194,00.html