A British judge has criticized flight attendants on a TUI Airways flight from Manchester to the Spanish holiday island of Fuerteventura after they allowed two drunken sisters to board a flight despite the fact that they knew they were intoxicated.
Katie and Laura Butterworth, both 34, were arrested after an argument broke out onboard the aircraft just before takeoff on June 1, but during the sister’s trial, Judge Patrick Field KC went out of his way to blast the cabin crew for failing to refuse them entry to the airplane.
Judge Field said that the sisters were “staggering and slurring their words” when they went to board the plane but rather than having the pair rebooked on an alternative flight so that they could sober up, the flight attendants decided they were a “manageable problem.”
“Staff knew both of these passengers were drunk before the plane embarked on its journey,” Judge Field said on Monday. “A statement says cabin crew told one stewardess the defendants were intoxicated due to them staggering around and slurring their words. But it doesn’t say whether any action was taken at all.”
“Does history relate why these women were not removed from the flight immediately and arrested – as indeed would have been inappropriate? It would have been the right thing to do. Had an incident occurred in the air, and the cabin crew were found to have done nothing about removed these people, one can only imagine where the inquiries would have led.”
After being allowed to take their seats, the plane started to taxi for takeoff, but the contents from one of the sister’s bags spilled into the aisle, and an argument erupted between the pair.
Other passengers then got involved, and one of the women described another customer as “vile”. One of the pair then started to remonstrate with the flight attendants in an “incoherent and volatile” manner before the other sister started to vomit in the aisle.
Katie decided to leave her seat and became argumentative towards cabin crew, saying she had not done anything wrong. She was told to sit down but was constantly up and down out of her seat whilst the plane was taxi-ing,” prosecutor Adam White told the court.
“As a result of the defendants’ behavior, the crew decided to turn back the plane without it taking off, and police were waiting to arrest them at the terminal.”
Both of the sisters were slapped with 12-month community orders and ordered to pay £90 in court costs. Katie pleaded guilty to interfering with the performance of aircraft crew and has been ordered to complete 60 hours of community service. Laura pleaded guilty to being drunk on an aircraft and is required to complete 120 hours of community service.
Earlier this month, Michael O’Leary, the boss of low-cost carrier Ryanair, called for airports to impose a two-drink limit on passengers in airport bars due to a rise in disruptive and unruly behavior on the airline’s flights.
O’Leary claims the rise in unruly behavior is primarily down to passengers drinking too much before they board a flight and a drink limit would help keep order and prevent flight disruptions.
If airports were to introduce a drink limit, O’Leary has promised to match the quota on Ryanair flights.
