An airplane passenger whose drunken behavior on a Hawaiian Airlines flight forced the plane to land mid-flight has been ordered to pay the airline $172,000.

Kyong Chol Kim was sentenced on Wednesday to six months in jail and ordered to pay the hefty fine for his antics, which forced the February flight bound for South Korea to return to Honolulu.

Kim, 48, allegedly downed a bottle of whisky before boarding and started bothering a child seated next to him on the flight, prosecutors said.

He then lunged at a flight attendant who tried to stop him from bothering the kid, according to prosecutors.

Members of the US military who were on the flight helped restrain him as the pilots reversed course and landed the plane back in Hawaii.

Kim was ordered to pay the cost of returning the flight to Honolulu.

With Post wires