Unruly United passenger must pay $20K for diverting flight

usa news

by Allie Griffin

An unruly and “physically aggressive” passenger on a United Airlines flight will pay the airline more than $20,000 after his behavior forced the pilot to divert a Newark-bound flight to Maine. was ordered.

England’s Alexander Michael Dominic McDonald must pay United more than $20,638 in compensation for a March 1 incident in which he threatened to “ruin a plane”, a federal judge ruled last week. He was sentenced Thursday.

The 30-year-old man, who has been in custody since the aerial assault, was also sentenced to prison and will be extradited to the United Kingdom by U.S. immigration officials, according to a ruling filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine. .

According to an FBI affidavit, Mr. McDonald, who pleaded guilty to one count of interfering with a flight attendant, got into a loud argument with his girlfriend on United Flight 883 from London’s Heathrow Airport and was told to calm down by the chief flight attendant. He was asked to do so.

He initially complied, but minutes later he became defiant again, this time yelling at another flight attendant, the documents state.

The chief flight attendant stood between the “verbally and physically aggressive” passenger and another flight attendant who walked away.

The crew tried to calm the frantic Englishman, but he only got worse.

McDonald asked the flight attendant if there was a problem, put his hand on the flight attendant’s shoulder and backed him into a corner, threatening to “ruin the plane,” according to the affidavit.

Crew and passengers were then able to place a flex cuff on McDonald, but were unable to restrain him to his seat as he continued to assault him.

The chief flight attendant and the pilot decided that for the safety of the crew and the flight, it was necessary to land the plane and remove the passengers from the aircraft as soon as possible.

The plane, carrying 160 passengers and 10 crew members, landed in Bangor, Maine, where the hot-tempered man and his girlfriend were offloaded and met by law enforcement at the airport before taking off again and returning to its original location. I was heading towards my destination. New Jersey.

Video posted on social media shows McDonald being escorted off the plane and down a flight of stairs with her ankles and hands tied with zip ties to a police car waiting on the tarmac as other passengers cheer. was reflected.

Reports of unruly passengers reached a staggering peak in 2021, with nearly 6,000 reported after pandemic-era travel restrictions were liftedaccording to FAA statistics.

Since then, that number has fallen significantly but remains above pre-pandemic levels. The number of reporters last year was 2,075, and by 2024 there will be 649.