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An off duty pilot appeared in a Dubai court on Wednesday. With charges including getting drunk on a plane and endangering an aircraft, the suspect pled guilty before the court.

Troubles allegedly began to appear whilst the Emirates flight EK144 from Madrid to Dubai was boarding on June 1. During this process he is said to have asked whether smoking was permitted on the flight. The flight attendant responded causing the accused to claim “he was aware of it because he was a pilot”. The problems continued in the air, causing the flight to be greeted by police in Dubai.

Onboard Troubles

The off duty pilot is accused of causing further chaos once the aircraft was in the air. A few hours into the flight he ran toward the galley and stole two beers, downing one before he was apprehended by crew. “When I demanded him to remain seated, he shouted loudly … he headed to the washroom that was occupied and banged the door loudly. The woman who was inside, came out petrified and returned to her seat,” the crew member explained to the court.

She went on to say “A passenger assisted me in restraining the suspect, who banged his head on the TV screen and broke it.”. This aggressive behaviour by the individual is said to have caused 10,000 Dirhams of damage (approximately £2,100). Following the damage, the pilot went on to threaten to “chase and kill” the crew, and verbally claimed that he would blow up the aircraft, an A380. These threats all occurred whilst he was handcuffed. A statement from the airline read:

Emirates can confirm that on June 1, 2018, an incident occurred during flight EK144 from Madrid to Dubai, whereby an unruly passenger was restrained by cabin crew. The passenger was met by authorities in Dubai on arrival. The safety of our passengers and crew is of critical importance and will not be compromised. The matter is now before the courts, and Emirates cannot comment further on the incident.

Court case adjourned

According to various sources, despite pleading guilty, the pilot asked for the case to be adjourned so that he could hire a lawyer and work on a defence. The full list of charges he faces are:

Unruly conduct;

Getting drunk on a plane;

Endangering the flight’s safety;

Causing Dh10,000 worth of damage to Emirate’s property;

Threatening to kill a flight attendant;

Punching a flight attendant in the chest.

Judge Fahd Al Shamsi is presiding over the case and issued the adjournment.

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The case would’ve distressed all of the people onboard, not least the cabin crew member, in addition to the passenger who was petrified after the incident with the toilet. Whilst it was likely that the drunk pilot was making up his claims, people on board the aircraft wouldn’t have known if they were true or not, causing further distress. It’s not uncommon for aircraft to divert in these circumstances, in fact in February 2017 a Pakistan Airlines flight was escorted to Stansted by RAF fighter jets due to a disruptive passenger onboard.