An Irishman was charged yesterday with threatening crew and passengers on an Aer Lingus flight from Shannon to Chicago.
Mr James Connors (19) had to be handcuffed by cabin crew last Friday after becoming verbally abusive because of a delay in bringing round the drinks cart.
According to a federal criminal complaint, Mr Connors told a flight attendant he would "drive [her] head through the window" because of the delay. He also threatened to "head-butt" crew members and "open the doors to the aircraft".
Mr Connors appeared yesterday before a Chicago federal court. His case was adjourned pending the production of a Garda report.
A spokesman for Aer Lingus would not comment other than to confirm an incident took place on the flight. "The incident was handled very professionally by our staff with the help of passengers. At no time were passengers under any physical threat and the disruption was kept to a minimum."
Mr Connors boarded the plane in Dublin after it had completed the first leg of the eight-hour flight from Shannon to Chicago. He was said to have become disruptive at intervals and seemed to suffer from mood swings. It is believed he became verbally but not physically abusive.
After demanding to see the captain, he was ordered to return to his seat and was told he would be arrested. However, he then began wandering in the cabin saying he did not care if he killed everyone on board, the FBI said yesterday.
On the captain's orders, Mr Connors was taken to the back of the plane and handcuffed for the rest of the flight. He was arrested by Chicago police officers after the plane touched down.
The Aer Lingus spokesman said such "air rage" incidents were rare. Nevertheless, he said, "we take them extremely seriously and our crew would be trained to identify any problems which might arise to ensure they do not escalate, and I believe their training showed in this case."
Meanwhile, a passenger who attacked fellow travellers on a British Airways jumbo jet was jailed for 15 months at a London court yesterday. Lee Thresher (29) also smashed an inside window on the London-Bangkok flight after drinking three double whiskies and taking a Valium tablet.
