tumult on board
No mask, but a bare butt: Air passengers face 20 years in prison
After landing at JFK Airport, the recalcitrant Irishman was arrested.
© Tayfun Coskun / Picture Alliance
An Irish mask refuser faces up to 20 years in prison for aggressive behavior on board an aircraft. As the US judiciary announced, the 29-year-old from Galway refused to wear a corona protective mask on a flight from Dublin to New York on January 7, hit another passenger in the head and showed his rear end in front of the occupants of the plane.
An Irishman who refused to wear a Covid mask on a flight from Dublin to New York and who bared his rear end to a flight attendant faces up to 20 years in prison. The commotion happened on a Delta Airlines flight on January 7th. Shane M., 29, appeared before a judge in New York a week later and was charged with “willful assault and intimidation of flight crew.” The criminal complaint was published on Friday.
Accordingly, the accused repeatedly refused to wear a mask, threw a soda can and hit a passenger on the head. M. then walked from his economy class seat to the first class area of the plane, where he “complained to one of the flight attendants about his food.” “While he was being escorted back to his seat – he pulled down his pants and underwear, exposing his buttocks to passengers seated nearby,” the indictment said.
threat to the pilot
When the pilot tried to calm him down, he took off his mask again, put it on the pilot’s head and threatened him. “The defendant held one of his fists close to Individual-4’s face and said, ‘Don’t touch me.'” On approach for landing, he refused to go into his seat. The FBI had since been informed, M. was arrested was arrested by airport police and is now facing charges in federal court in Brooklyn, where he faces charges of disrupting flight operations and threatening crew members.A court spokesman said the defendant faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted $20,000 bail released pending trial.
zero tolerance
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in January 2021 it would have a zero-tolerance policy toward anyone who opposes federal regulations about wearing masks on U.S. domestic flights. The statement was in response to complaints from flight attendants about the high rate of verbal and physical abuse by mask refusers. Sara Nelson, President of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, said: “This is unacceptable. Period. Flight attendants are responsible for the safety and health of the passengers we serve on board. This type of behavior endangers the safety of everyone on board “It’s good news that the Department of Justice is taking swift criminal action. We’re proud of the Delta crew.”
The FAA fined unruly passengers more than $1 million last year. About 70 percent of the incidents were related to masks. As recently as Wednesday, an American Airlines flight en route from Miami to London turned around after about an hour because a passenger refused to wear a face mask.