An inebriated passenger onboard a Bangkok-bound Qatar Airways flight caused such a disturbance that the captain was forced to make an unscheduled diversion to Karachi, a Doha court heard this week.
“The accused was fully drunk and assaulting co-passengers and crew members. People felt terrorised, so I had no option but to land the plane at Karachi. It was impossible to continue the seven-hour flight to Bangkok,” the Qatar Airways pilot told the Upper Criminal Court.
The accused, a GCC national, began creating a ruckus two hours after the plane left the Doha International Airport. He was demanding that the flight be diverted to Jakarta. The pilot said the nearest airport where he could land the plane was Karachi, so he decided to land there. “It took us four hours from Doha to reach the Pakistani port city,” said the pilot.
The prosecution has charged the accused with assaulting two crew members, trying to forcibly redirect the flight to Jakarta, endangering the lives of fellow passengers and behaving irresponsibly on government property.
Cabin crew members tried hard to control the man, who was travelling in First Class with his wife, the pilot told the court.
According to the pilot, the landing at Karachi “put extra financial burden on our airline.”
http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=December2008&file=Local_News2008120545542.xml
Note: Why is his nationality important?
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